Southern Constellations
by ElBrezo
Summary: A promising tour brings back together two best friends and their bands. Will the hidden feelings they've always had for each other, as well as his new girlfriend, get in the way of their work? Featuring Pierce The Veil and Of Mice & Men.
1. Chapter 1

"Thanks again for letting us share a bus, Vic. We really appreciate it." Kristen told him for the thousandth time as she handed the last of her bands' bags to Matt for him to put on the bus.

Vic laughed quietly. "It's no problem at all. We're glad to have you on the tour. It's going to be awesome."

She smiled back at him. "So what's the plan up until the first show tomorrow?"

"Well, we're going to be on the road all night on the way to Denver. So anything you can find to do in the bus, go for it."

"And, once we get to the venue?"

"We're meeting up with Of Mice & Men and their crew in the morning; we'll go from there after everyone gets up." Vic explained.

Kristen nodded slightly, but stared off at the side of the bus.

"You guys all know them personally, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Caleb and I have known them for years. Kasey and Matt have met them a few times and they're all on good terms." She replied quickly, rushing from nervousness.

"Everything okay?"

She sighed. Vic had always been one to tell exactly what you were feeling.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Kind of scared, but fine."

Vic's brother Mike approached the two with a smile. "Hitting the road, guys!"

They both smiled back and followed him into the tour bus.

Thankfully, the rest of their bandmates were back in the lounge.

"Scared why?" He asked as they sat in the tiny kitchen/living room.

"Just, it's going to be awkward for me." She paused, and chuckled to herself. "But you'll never see it."

"I think it's just nerves. After the first show, you'll want more. You'll be in the swing of things and everything will be fine." Vic assured her.

"Well, thanks. You may be right." She smiled. "Hey, um, are the bunks just through there? It's kind of early but I'm really tired."

"Yep. I don't think we've let you guys pick yours yet though. It might be hard to pull them from that party back there."

"I'll get them." She gave him a smile and started to make her way back to the lounge.

She pulled the curtain, and almost burst out laughing at the scene before her.

Both bands were just sitting around and watching Toy Story.

"I voted against it." Matt, their guitarist, said when her giggles filled the room.

"It's funny that you lost. Anyway, come on, guys. Gotta pick our bunks."

Matt, Kasey, and Caleb got up from their seats and followed her to their beds.

"Okay, fight amongst yourselves for the rest but I'm getting top right." Kristen told them as she climbed up into her bed.

"And I get top left!" Matt dibbed.

"I'll go under Matt, you under Kristen?" Kasey suggested to Caleb.

"Sounds good to me." He agreed.

Kasey and Caleb went back to the lounge, but Matt stayed with Kristen.

"Why so early?" He asked.

"Want to be rested for the show tomorrow." She replied as she fluffed her pillow.

It was silent for a few moments before he answered. "Is it about Austin?"

"It's just going to be weird for me. I'm overreacting."

Matt leaned over, reaching all the way over to her so he could touch her arm.

"Hey, it's going to be all good. This is the greatest thing that could have happened to us. This is the start of something great. Don't let him ruin it."

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I'm trying. I guess we'll see what happens after we all meet up."

Matt hopped down from his bed and pulled up on hers to kiss her cheek. "Goodnight."

"Night."

She watched him disappear back behind the curtain before letting herself fall asleep.

...

When Kristen woke up the next morning, she sat up slowly, almost hitting her head on the roof. She leaned over slightly and ended up falling to the floor.

"Fuck!" She yelled out.

Matt poked his head out from behind his and Kasey's curtain.

"You dead?"

"No."

"Okay cool." He said before going back to sleep.

She sighed and picked herself up off the floor and walked to the front of the bus.

They weren't moving, so she was sure that they had made it to Denver.

She grabbed her keys, just in case, and opened the door to go outside and get some fresh air before the day began.

When she stepped outside, she looked over and saw Tony Perry, Pierce The Veil's guitarist, sitting on the concrete drinking coffee.

"Good morning." She greeted as she sat down next to him.

"Morning." He replied without even looking at her.

"You excited?" She asked.

"Yeah. I can't wait for tonight. It's going to be amazing. This you guys' first tour?"

"Yep. Just hoping I don't screw it up."

Tony chuckled. "Hey, we heard you the other day. You're fantastic. Nothing to worry about."

She smiled back. "Thanks. Although that's not all I'm worried about." She immediately cursed herself for saying that.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Nothing, really. I just… I'm nervous about seeing someone from the other band. Weird… history."

"I'm listening." He said quietly.

She stared at the ground for a long time.

"I've been in love with Austin Carlile since 6th grade." She practically whispered.

"And how old are you?"

"22."

"Shit." He held back a laugh.

"I know, shut up." She pushed his arm playfully.

"That's crazy. You never told him?"

"We've always been best friends. I met him the first day of middle school." She paused. "He… some 8th grader tried to put him in a trash can, and they ended up fighting. I was the only one to defend or help him. Since then… we were friends. I liked him basically as soon as I met him. I was a complete wuss, and all through middle school I never even thought about telling him. I was scared I'd lose him or he'd think I was weird or something. It was kind of the same throughout high school, but at times I would finally have the balls to tell him… and he would have a girlfriend. And when his mom died… I wanted to tell him so bad. I wanted to kiss him and tell him it would all be okay. But I knew he wouldn't be able to put anything into the relationship, so I just gave up. The feelings didn't go away but I accepted that all we'd ever be is friends."

She gasped slightly as Tony put his arm around her.

She didn't realize until now that she was crying her eyes out.

"When was the last time you talked to him?" He asked.

"When you guys told us we would be touring with you. He called us and congratulated us."

"Well hey, maybe this tour was fate. Maybe now is your chance." Tony gave her a small smile, hoping she would cheer up.

She tried to smile back. "Maybe." She agreed despite knowing better as she wiped her eyes.

They both looked up as crew members ran up to both tour buses.

"Gotta start setting up for soundcheck, guys!"

Tony and Kristen stood up, waiting for their bands to get outside.

"I'm gonna go put this cup up; when I get back we'll head over to the trucks and start moving our stuff." Tony told her as he went back into the bus.

She stood patiently for a couple seconds before moving her eyes over to the Of Mice & Men bus.

She smiled as she watched them all walk out. Tino and Phil hopped out first, with Alan following behind them. She waited, but no one else came out right away.

A minute or so later, Austin came down the steps holding the hand of the blonde girl trailing behind him. He stepped out onto the ground and turned to kiss her.

He waved bye and she smiled, closing the door.

Kristen stood there, unable to move. She only snapped back into it after Tony came back.

"Are you okay?" He sounded worried.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She just stared as Austin moved closer to them.

"Kristen!" He shouted happily when he was just a few feet away.

Her breathing became shallow as tears filled her eyes.

Austin finally reached them, and pulled her into a hug without another word.

"I've missed you!" He said as he hugged her.

She barely hugged back, still too hurt to even think.

"Yeah," She replied quietly.

He pulled back and looked at her with a smile. His smile faded when he saw her face. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. I'm um… just…" She sighed loudly in frustration. "Tony, I'll see you later."

She turned away and headed over to the truck that had everyone's equipment.

Austin turned to Tony. "Is she okay?" Worry laced his voice.

Tony frowned. "I don't know what happened. She was fine when I left."

The two were both confused, and watched her walk away until she disappeared behind the truck.

...

"Ugh, you're such an idiot!" She scolded herself as she sat on the floor of some hidden back room that she'd found.

Her arms ached with want, but she made herself ignore it. There was no way she'd be doing _that_ over this. On a show night.

She wasn't sure why she'd even gotten so upset. She was the only one to blame for this. She didn't tell Austin when she had the chance and now he's got someone else. Again.

She'd been sitting back here crying for 2 hours, and she had soundcheck to take care of. She needed to calm down.

She snickered to herself, wondering if anyone even noticed that she was gone.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

'_You can't let this bother you. You are on _tour. _You have much more important things to worry about than this. You have to put on a good show for the fans. That's all that matters. Them._'

She continued to steady her breathing until it was near normal before finally getting up and heading to the stage.

When she found it, there were band members and crew everywhere, moving around in a rush to get everything ready.

No one really did notice her, except for Kasey and Matt.

"Where have you been?" Kasey asked quietly.

"Hiding." She replied.

"To make us move everything?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry guys. It won't happen again. I'm really sorry. Just had a bad morning."

Kasey held her gaze for a few moments before smacking her arm teasingly. "We love you, remember that."

"Love you too." She smiled.

Matt handed an amp to Kasey and he took it to the other side of the stage.

"What happened?" He asked after he left.

"Saw something that made me feel bad and I freaked the fuck out."

His eyes stared at her worriedly. "Did… did you…"

She shook her head softly.

He let out a breath. "Good." He pulled her into a hug. "What did you see?"

She looked down at the stands and saw Austin standing there with that girl.

Kristen pointed to them.

Matt looked, and his jaw dropped. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's mine. We're all good. It's not important."

"Are you sure?"

"Nope. But I know that making the fans happy is a lot more important than me."

"Kristen, you can't do that-

"Miserable at best." She said before walking over to a crew member and helping them with some wires.

Matt shook his head and sighed. This was going to end badly…

...

"Kristen, you're slowing down." Caleb called from his drumset.

She didn't say anything, only closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she noticed Austin walking out and standing against the barricade that separated the pit and the seats.

She stared at him for a few seconds, anger randomly taking over before she turned back to her band.

"Start again."

They nodded, and Matt began playing the opening to 'Monster' by Paramore. It was one of their covers and the last song of their set.

Still hurt and now angry, the music was giving Kristen the weirdest energy.

"_You were my conscience. So solid, now you're like water. And we started drowning… Not like we'd sink any further. But I let my heart go; it's somewhere down at the bottom. But I'll get a new one, and come back for the hope that you've stolen_…"

She jumped up with the music as she practically screamed the chorus.

She kept her eyes locked on Austin for a majority of the song.

"_I'll stop the whole world; I'll stop the whole world from turning into a monster, eating us alive. Don't you ever wonder how we survive? Now that you're gone, the world is ours_." She was on her knees, with the microphone between them, leaning down and singing the last part with a tone that sent chills through the rest of her bandmates.

She breathed heavily when she finally stood up. "How was that?"

They stared at her with questioning looks.

"Perfect." Caleb said.

She looked back at the seats to see Austin frowning back at her. Well, not really a frown. He looked concerned.

A crew guy grabbed the microphone from her and spoke into it. "Alright, Of Mice & Men, you guys are up, let's go."

They switched out equipment, but Kristen didn't want to stay to watch.

She found Matt, and convinced him to go get some lunch instead.

Austin watched them leave with sad eyes.

...

About a half hour before the doors opened, Kasey texted Kristen and Matt telling them to get back, they were going to meet the fans that had been waiting outside.

They got back within 10 minutes, and immediately got some reactions.

"Hey!" A girl stopped Matt.

"Hey, you excited for tonight?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah! I love you guys. Kasey and Caleb are awesome." The girl turned to Kristen with a less-than-happy look. "You too." She said bitterly.

Kristen laughed.

"I think you're great, Kristen." The girl's boyfriend spoke up. "Your voice is beautiful, especially for your genre. Gives me chills every time."

"Thanks, so much."

His girlfriend elbowed him, but he ignored it.

"Mind if I get a picture?" The guy asked.

"Oh, of course!"

They posed while the girl unwillingly took their picture.

Once people saw them take a picture, they started getting the hint that they were playing, and more people wanted to meet them.

They spent the next 30 or so minutes taking pictures and talking with the fans, and it had lifted Kristen's mood a remarkable amount.

They went back backstage after a crew guy came to get them.

"That was awesome!" Kristen beamed excitedly.

"Feeling better?" Matt smiled.

"Yes!"

Matt looked up when he heard Mike from Pierce The Veil call his name. "We've got a half hour left till our set, keep it up!" He patted her arm happily as he walked over to where Mike was.

She still had a smile on her face as she walked through the backstage area sipping water.

She was just looking around at the pictures on the walls when a hand grabbed her arm.

Turning around, she was face to face with a worried Austin Carlile.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"What?"

"You seemed… off. All day. What was wrong?" His voice broke as he spoke. It wasn't like her to act like this and it was hurting him.

"Nothing, I just had a bad morning. I'm fine now."

"Are you sure? Kristen, we've been friends for 13 years, you can talk to me."

She put a hand on his cheek. "I know. Thanks for caring, but it doesn't matter."

"It does matter! Is it something I did? Please, tell me."

She took a deep breath and was about to speak, but her phone vibrated.

She pulled it out of her pocket quickly and opened the text.

_Kasey: IT'S TIME!_

"Shit! Austin I have to go. We'll talk later." She ran away without even giving him time to respond.

...

The crowd cheered as they walked out onto the stage, despite most of them not knowing who they were.

Kristen smiled at all the faces looking back at her.

"How are you guys today?"

They cheered back, and Kristen could hear Matt's quiet laugh from behind her.

"Sweet! And _how _excited are you guys to see Of Mice & Men?"

_Much _louder cheers.

"Pierce The Veil!"

She was pretty sure that if there was one, the roof would've just blown the hell off the place.

"Okay, but before that, we're gonna sing a couple of our songs and a few covers for you guys, is that cool?"

There was a pretty positive response from the fans, and Kristen was practically glowing with happiness and excitement.

"One last thing though." She kicked a cord out of her way before she tripped on it. "_You guys have to promise me that you'll scream at the top of your lungs_…"

...

"Holy fucking shit! That was insane!" Matt yelled as they headed backstage after they finished performing.

Kristen was speechless but nodded along with her bandmates.

"Epic for a first show!" Caleb continued.

Kristen was looking back at them, so she screamed when she ran into someone and they wrapped their arms around her.

"I'm so proud of you, kibbles!" Austin said into her hair.

"Kibbles?" Kasey laughed.

"Thanks." She giggled back at Austin.

He pulled back, but still didn't let her out of his grasp, and looked down at her smiling.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled back at him.

"You guys did awesome." He continued to praise them.

"Good luck doing better." She winked.

"It'll be tough…"

"Ah, not really." She laughed.

Austin smiled. "I missed your laugh."

She blushed in the dark hall. Thankfully he probably couldn't notice.

"We should hang out after the show. Catch up, you know?"

"I'm down. Meet me at the bus later?"

"I'll pick you up at 10:30."

They both laughed again.

Kristen's smile hadn't dropped since he put his arms around her.

"Austin!" Tino called for him. "Let's go!"

"Coming!" He yelled back.

"See you then." Austin kissed her forehead and ran off to the stage.

When he was gone, Matt went up to her and looked at her knowingly.

"Tony said it was fate." She shrugged.

Matt smiled slightly and put an arm around her neck before walking back towards the stage to watch the rest of the show.

...

"Whatcha doing?" Vic asked Kristen as he watched her fixing her hair.

"Going to go hang out with Austin, you?"

"Probably eat and go to bed. We're leaving in 2 hours, don't stay out too long." Vic smiled.

"Promise." She laughed as he walked back to the other side of the bus.

She heard knocking on the bus door, and looking up at the clock she saw that it was exactly 10:30.

She giggled to herself. He was always right on time, it amused her.

Opening the door, she saw him standing there smiling. "Hellooooo." He said cheerily.

"Hey."

"Care to go get something to eat?"

"Sure."

Austin led her across the street and into the Denny's.

The place was practically empty.

They sat down at a table and started talking after the waitress brought them drinks.

"You did better after all." She laughed, taking a sip of her soda.

"I don't think so. Your voice is unbeatable." He smiled back.

She blushed, but didn't say anything.

"How have you been, honestly? We haven't actually talked in a long time."

She thought before answering, but decided to just be honest with him. "I was great till this morning. That just… it sucked."

"What did?"

They were interrupted by the waitress, who came back to take their orders.

They ordered quickly, and Austin just stared at her intently, waiting for her to speak.

"What?" She asked. She was becoming nervous under his gaze.

"I don't know. You look really great though. Even better than the last time I saw you."

She giggled from nervousness. "I don't think your girlfriend would like hearing you say that."

"Abby? Eh."

"Eh?"

"We've only been together for a couple weeks, it'd be pretty messed up for her to freak out over me complimenting by best friend of over ten years."

"Two weeks? And you brought her on tour?"

"Well, she figured it would help our relationship. Only two weeks together and then I'm gone for three months?"

Kristen laughed skeptically.

"What? You don't like her or something?"

"Haven't met her. Don't want to." She replied unintentionally harshly.

His face fell.

"I'm sorry, that was mean." She apologized quickly.

"No, it's okay. Just your opinion. But it kind of sucks that none of my friends really like her."

"None?"

"Not really. Not the band, not you, you're the only friends that matter."

It physically hurt her to say what she said next. "Well, if you like her, don't let us stop you."

Austin looked down, clearly in thought, and nodded.

They sat in silence until the food came.

"Chicken is so good." Kristen said as she ate.

Austin laughed. "It is."

She continued eating, and he started watching her again.

After a few minutes, she noticed.

"What?" She asked.

He bit his tongue. "Nothing."

"You sure? You can tell me anything." She took his words from earlier.

He laughed. "I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"You." He answered truthfully.

She was taken aback by that. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's fine."

"You just… you've changed so much. I mean, from the chick that helped me out of a trash can to…" He let out a frustrated breath. "Watching you onstage tonight was breathtaking."

"I still think you di-"

"It's not about that. It has nothing to do with who performed better; I'm stuck on how insane it was to see you like that. So much passion. It was all over you. And your voice! God," He sighed heavily.

She giggled. Loudly.

"Why?" He asked.

"It's nice to see you be the frustrated one for once."

He didn't say anything, but he watched her as she finished her food.

Once she did, she looked at her phone and her eyes widened. "Whoa! Austin we have to go or they're going to leave us."

He nodded and they got up quickly.

Austin paid for the food and they ran out of the restaurant.

She went to dash across the street, but Austin stopped her.

"Wait!" He grabbed her arm.

"What? What is it?"

"I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand."

She shook her head as she tried to breathe. "Are you using Rise Against lyrics against me?"

"Yes." He replied with a small grin.

She sighed and interlaced their fingers.

They looked both ways for cars before running across the pretty much empty street.

They reached the buses with only about five minutes left before they were heading off.

He squeezed her hand before releasing it. "Thanks for getting dinner with me."

"Of course. It was awesome. Thanks for paying." They both laughed.

She looked up at the moon as silence took over.

Austin took a quick breath and closed his eyes before leaning down and kissing her cheek.

She smiled, and gave him a hug before he had to leave.

"See you tomorrow. Get some sleep!" He yelled to her as he ran to his bus.

"Goodnight!" She shouted back.

With a small giggle, she opened the door to her own bus and climbed in.

"I was thinking you weren't coming back." Tony's voice snapped her out of her slight daze.

"Oh, well. I wouldn't miss curfew. Everyone else asleep?"

"Everyone except Vic. He's back in the lounge playing his guitar."

She nodded and sat down across from him as the bus started to move.

"So where were you?" Tony asked.

"Dinner with Austin. Catching up and stuff."

"Oh really?" He smiled.

"Yeah." She laughed.

"What happened?"

"He was acting really weird. Complimenting me a lot. Got really flustered. Made me hold his hand when we were coming back. Kissed my cheek. Just… weird."

Tony chuckled.

She smiled. "What?"

"I told you."

"He has a girlfriend."

"So?" Tony laughed again. "They've been together, what, like a week? Is that even long enough to know if he _really _wants to be with her? Either way, there's no way she can contend with thirteen years of chemistry."

"Don't get my hopes up, Tony." She said with a small smile.

He held his hands up. "I just call it like I see it."

"Yeah, well. I'm going to bed. You should too." She told him as she started walking towards their bunks.

"Goodnight." He said as she disappeared behind the curtain.

...

She changed in the dark and quickly climbed up into her bunk, eager to get some sleep after the exhausting first day of touring.

Despite how crazy everything was, she smiled to herself as she fell unconscious.

Maybe Tony was right. Maybe it was fate.

And nothing can stop fate, right?


	2. Chapter 2

About a week into the tour, they were in San Diego, Pierce The Veil's hometown.

Everyone already knew that this show was going to be insane, but at just 10AM it was already crazier than any of them had thought it would be.

All three bands walked into a local diner, and the hometown heroes were immediately recognized as such.

"Oh, I know you guys!" The hostess beamed at the Pierce The Veil members.

They took some quick pictures before they seated them.

Alan and Mike pulled two more tables over to make room for everyone.

Kristen sat in between Matt and Vic, awkwardly placed right where she could see Austin and Abby.

They held hands and laughed along with Alan and Tino, while Kristen stayed quiet, talking only when someone asked her something or spoke to her.

She didn't think anyone would, but two people did in fact notice her strange behavior…

...

After the waitress' insisted that their meals were on the house, everyone headed off to the arena where they'd be performing tonight.

It was close enough to walk, so the large group went back by foot.

"You all right?" Matt finally asked her. They were all the way at the back of the pack.

She kept her eyes on her feet as she walked. "I guess."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I've just felt… weird, lately."

"Why?"

She didn't answer, but she looked up.

Past all the other band members, she easily spotted Austin. Taller than most of the others, he was easy to find. When she saw that his hand was still tightly interlaced with Abby's, she let out a loud sigh.

"It's them, isn't it?"

Her eyes started to water, so she didn't dare speak.

"You need to tell him, Kristen."

"And ruin what's left of our friendship? Great idea, Matt." She snapped at him unintentionally. "Sorry. " She apologized quickly. "I'm sorry, I just… I'm upset about it."

"Yeah, I know. We can all see it."

She felt panic rise in her. "What?"

Matt sighed. "When he's around… You perk up. A _lot_. Then when she shows up, you hurt. It's all over you. From the look in your eyes to the way you move. Caleb and Kasey are worried, and so is Tony. You need to tell him before something bad happens. Please."

Her heart broke at the thought of them actually worrying about her. She was wasting their time. "I'm sorry. I'm not telling him, but I promise I'll try to keep everything in check."

Matt's upset expression didn't alter, but he nodded slowly. "Please be careful, Kristen."

She smiled at him, and he forced one back.

Something had to be done, or this was going to get worse. _Fast_.

As they approached the arena, Matt's eyes widened and Kristen's jaw dropped.

There were literally _hundreds _of screaming fans in a giant crowd outside the place.

It was a made up of mostly Pierce The Veil fans, but every now and then they would spot Of Mice & Men fans, and even a few New Revolution fans.

The whole thing was surreal, and everyone was reeling until the show actually began.

...

Kristen took a swig of her water bottle while Matt was doing their opener before she went out on the stage.

"Good luck, kibbles!"

Kristen looked over and saw Austin smiling and waving at her.

She smiled back, but it faded after only a second once she saw Abby under his arm.

She looked away quickly and practically ran out on the stage.

She felt slightly dizzy seeing all of the screaming people, but she caught herself and took a deep breath.

"San Diego!"

They cheered back at her.

"You know, the past couple days, there has been a lot of hometown glory… yesterday we were in the birthplace of Of Mice & Men, today… we're in the hometown of the one and only Pierce The Veil!"

This earned them an unbelievably loud response.

She laughed softly. "Well, you see, our band… we're not from around here. Kasey, our amazing bassist, is from Missouri. And our green haired guitarist is from all the way up in Ohio. Our kick ass drummer Caleb, as well as myself, is from Florida. So we haven't been feeling the love lately." She paused to breathe and see how the crowd was taking it. They waited patiently for her to finish. "I know you guys are anxious for Pierce The Veil, but how about a little love for the outsiders?"

The crowd cheered back at her, making her smile.

"Woo!" She responded. "Now without further ado, we are, _The New Revolution_…"

...

They were applauded by the other bands as they walked back off stage.

Austin stood smiling, waiting for Kristen.

"Great show yet again, Kristen. I'm still shocked."

"Why?" She smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just can't get used to seeing you rock out like that. It really is awe-inspiring."

She laughed. "Well get used to it, we still have a couple months on tour."

Austin chuckled, and looked up at the sound of his name. "Wish me luck, hope I do as good as you!"

With that, he ran on stage to thousands of people already screaming his name.

...

Kristen stood by herself on the side of the stage while she watched them perform.

It was just about finished when she caught Austin look over at her and stare.

His eyes lit up as he finished The Depths.

The crowd cheered and he waited for them to calm a bit before speaking.

"Okay guys, we have one more song left!"

There was slight resistance, but he continued.

"It's a pretty old song of ours, and since Shayley isn't here anymore and my singing voice just doesn't do this song justice, I have someone who's going to help us out for this last one!"

She watched curiously as Austin ran towards her. Her heart leapt to her throat once she realized why he was doing that.

"Please!" He asked as he reached her.

"Austin, I-I couldn't,"

"Please, no one better could sing it with me. My mom loved you. You're the only other person in the world who could do this with me and be able to understand. Please, Kristen."

She could hardly say no to that, and picked her mic up off the ground.

Austin gave her a big smile and a hug. "Thank you so much."

He ran back out on stage and she followed slowly behind him.

"You guys remember her? Fuck yeah! My mother loved that girl like she was her own. This song's called Second & Sebring."

The music hit fast and she started right in time.

"_I believe it's time for me to be famous and out of place. I believe it's time for me to move forward. When I break through_..."

Austin joined in, and they scream and sang back at each other.

"_This time I'll make you_,"

"_Proud to see me over, come on day light_!"

"_Proud of, who you raised_."

"_Your shelter, your peacefulness_."

"_So this time I'll make you proud…_"

It was Austin's turn to scream through much of the rest of the song, so she just stood next to him, looking up towards the sky.

She knew how proud his mother would be of him.

Kristen was practically in tears when Austin was about to hand over the rest of the song to her.

"_I hope that I make you proud_." Austin screamed with a voice that she could tell was breaking.

Kristen picked up right where he left off. "_This is not what it is, only baby scars. I need your love like a boy needs his mother's side_." She sang the lines twice before a piano break took over the air.

Austin looked at her with shimmering eyes.

She walked over and gave him a small hug. She pointed up to the sky and looked at him, tears openly running down her cheeks. She whispered to him, "She loves you."

Austin let the tears he held back finally come out as he slipped his hand into hers.

She took a deep breath as the piano break came to an end.

Softly, she sang out with all of her heart. "_This is not, what it is; only baby scars._" He squeezed her hand and she looked up at him, seeing that he was looking right back into her eyes. "_I need your love like a boy needs his mother's side._"

She finished the song beautifully, and they could barely hear anything other than the crowd.

Austin gave her a weary smile and she looked out at the crowd.

They were crying and smiling back at them.

At that moment, she was sure that she had and never again will feel anything better.

...

Once backstage, Kasey explained that Abby had went back out to the bus during their performance, so Austin spent the rest of the night with Kristen.

They stood quietly, watching Pierce The Veil wow their hometown.

Austin giggled next to her, and she turned to see him looking at her mischievously.

"What?" She questioned, still smiling back at him.

"Want to do something fun?"

"Like what?"

His smile grew. "When I go… follow me."

She nodded, almost scared at what he was planning.

He grabbed his mic and turned to her. "NOW!"

Despite her nervousness, she followed when he ran out on stage.

"_What if I can't forget you? I'll burn your name into my throat; I'll be the fire that'll catch you!_" Austin screamed over Jaime.

They were all shocked and confused, but they continued the song.

"_Nobody prays for the heartless!_"

"_NO_!" Kristen jumped in.

Vic smirked at her and continued singing.

Jaime jumped down from his platform and she stepped onto it, head banging to the music along with the crowd.

There was a guitar solo after another chorus and once it finished, Kristen sang the next round.

"_So what if I can't forget you? I'll burn your name into my throat; I'll be the fire that'll catch you. What's so good about picking up the pieces? What if I don't even want to?"_

There was another break, and then there was silence just before Austin's screams took over.

"_What if I can't forget you?_"

Jaime and Vic finished off the song, while Austin and Kristen danced around the stage.

When it was over, they hurried backstage so that they could end the show.

...

"I can't believe you guys did that!" Vic laughed loudly as the bands started walking back to their buses.

However, there were fans everywhere and none of them could ignore them, so they all stopped to hang with them for a little while.

Kristen was signing something for a girl when someone called out her name.

"Kristen! Kristen! Can we speak to you?"

She turned towards the voice and smiled. "Yeah, what's up?"

"We're with the San Diego Scream Scene, a YouTube show that interviews acts that are around here. Mind if we ask a few questions about your band?" One of the girls asked.

"Oh, of course." She was nervous, and looked over at Austin's smiling face.

She smiled back and turned to the interviewers.

"So first, tell us about your band."

"Well, we're called The New Revolution, and we're here to rock the damn world." Kristen shrugged.

The girls laughed. "How did you get the name?"

"Caleb, our drummer, and I came up with it. We want to help form a new generation, a group of kids who finally believe that they don't have to give a fuck what anyone thinks. We want them to understand that the things that make them different and the bad stuff that happens to them are just what happens to us. We're the best people. We go through all of this shit and, as probably cocky as it sounds, we're better. Yeah there will be plenty of people who think it's a bad thing to make kids think that, but it's true. We're smarter. I'd pick brains over anything any day. If it's wrong then I guess I've never been right." She paused. "When we accept that this is who we are, we can unite. And once we do, the world is ours."

"Well it's good that you have a motive. On a lighter note, or possibly heavier, what was tonight all about? Is there something you and a certain someone haven't been telling others?" The girl smirked at Kristen with a raised eyebrow.

Kristen looked back at her, confused for a moment. "What?"

"You _know_. Do you have anything going on with a screaming prince charming?"

Before Kristen could answer, Austin ran up behind her and threw an arm around her neck.

"Wasn't tonight badass?" Austin asked loudly.

Kristen giggled, mostly because she finally understood the girl's question.

"It was!" They answered.

Austin gave a small laugh and kissed Kristen's cheek before leaving without another word.

Kristen laughed too, and looked back at the interviewers. "I'm sorry guys; I have to get back to the bus."

"It's all good, you have fun in there." The girl winked at her.

"Sleeping is so fun! Especially alone. Nothing better." Kristen tried to get them to take the hint.

"Sure, sure. Any last thing you want to say to everyone?"

Kristen looked at the camera as she spoke. "Yeah, guys, check us out! And don't do drugs. Peace." She gave the camera a smile and walked off shot and back towards their bus.

...

Austin was standing alone outside of the Pierce The Veil bus as Kristen walked up to it.

"Hey." She smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to say goodnight." He smiled softly. "And thank you for everything tonight."

"Aw, no need. It was the best time of my life. I'm glad I got to spend it with you."

The way the moon shined on Austin's eyes when they lit up made her heart flutter.

"Thanks so much." Austin said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"She'd be so proud of you, Austin." Kristen whispered against his chest.

"And of you."

"But it's not me that matters." She laughed.

"You do matter, and you really did to her." He laid his cheek against the top of her head. "She used to always tell me that the only reason she was happy that you weren't her real daughter was because of 'us'… she would always say 'us', and I never understood it." He paused, both of them just listening to the other breathe. "But lately, I've finally started to realize why."

He lifted his face and kissed her head just as they had to break their embrace.

"I'll see you in Vegas." He smiled widely.

"Get some sleep!" She called as he started walking towards his bus.

"I'll try!" He replied.

She still had a smile on her face as she opened the door and headed inside.

She heard everyone back in the lounge, but she was too tired to go hang out.

She started to change and almost fell down when she took off her pants because the bus started moving.

"You okay?" Kasey laughed.

"Yeah, what are you doing?"

"Reading until I pass out."

"Good luck… they'll probably get pretty loud soon."

"Good luck with sleeping through it."

She smirked at him as she climbed up into her bunk.

"Night, Kase."

It was extremely muted, but she could've sworn she heard him whisper back, "Goodnight, Mrs. Carlile."


	3. Chapter 3

"Kristen," Vic sang softly.

A soft guitar riff followed.

"We're… in…"

"VEGAS!" The group shouted. "Time to get up!"

She whipped around, staring back at the smiling faces of Vic, Tony, Matt, Kasey, and Caleb.

Matt continued playing a song on his guitar as they stared at her.

"Let's go!" Tony said excitedly. "We have to go check into our hotel, come on."

She groaned.

"Hey, we let you sleep this long." Caleb eyed her jokingly.

"Fiiiine." She whined and jumped down from the bed.

Kasey handed her clothes and they walked to the front of the bus to wait for her.

She emerged ten minutes later, and they were off the hotel.

They were getting hotel rooms because they had a few days off, and they all decided to spend it in Vegas.

When they arrived, they were told that Of Mice & Men had already gotten the rooms for them, and that Austin wanted them to tell Kristen that she was too slow.

Everyone else laughed, but she only smirked. She was sure that they somehow all planned this.

Nonetheless, they headed up to their floor to drop off all their stuff.

As Kristen stood in the hallway waiting for Matt to lock their bands door, she looked a few rooms over and saw Austin hugging Abby.

She sighed, and looked away.

When she looked back up, she saw that he was walking towards them alone.

"She's not coming?"

"Not feeling well."

"Oh." She replied quietly, not able to look at him.

Her band members had already walked way ahead of her, so there was no chance of using them to get out of talking to him.

"How are _you _feeling?" He asked, noticing her mood.

She didn't speak for a long time.

"I'm not." She finally said as they stepped into the elevator.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Not good I guess."

He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the elevator.

"I'll be happy to take care of you. If you want." He gave her a small smile.

"Nah, it's okay."

He frowned and moved his arm. "Okay."

The walked in silence the rest of the way to the venue.

...

Kristen sat on the concrete in the middle of where the pit would be later tonight as she watched Of Mice & Men's soundcheck.

Matt came up to her, holding a laptop.

"Kristen!"

She looked up at him.

"You have to look at this!"

He handed her the computer, and immediately she froze.

Going down the page, there were tons of pictures, videos, and gifs of last night.

Her and Austin holding hands, hugging, crying together, singing, even stuff from the interview.

Along with that, there were plenty of people who were happy to give their opinions; be they good or bad…

'_They are so cute! I love them together, it's perfect. I've always thought she was way better for him than Abby._'

'_Who does this bitch think she is? Austin is HAPPYILY in a relationship! FUCK OFF!'_

'_Why are people only blaming Kristen? Yes, if they are secretly together then she's fucked up for ruining his and Abby's relationship, but it takes _two _to do that… Austin isn't innocent either._'

"Shit!" Kristen yelped out in surprise.

"I know! It's crazy. Have you checked your twitter? It's being blown the fuck up! You guys were even trending this morning."

"Really?"

He nodded.

She pulled out her phone and opened twitter, her eyes widening at the notifications saying "200+ Mentions, 13 DMs"

Skimming through her mentions, she didn't even know what to say.

'_Ugh, you're gross. How could you do that?_'

'_Congrats! You and Austin are adorable!_'

'_Lol, that video is bullshit. Who gave this bitch permission to sing with and touch Austin Carlile?_'

'_You go girl. _'

'_I really hope she isn't doing this just to make her band popular…_'

'_These fangirls are ridiculous. Kristen has been FRIENDS with Austin since they were KIDS. Quit freaking out._'

She read over only a few before stopping.

Some of them were irritating her, but she didn't say anything to them. Instead, she thought for a few minutes before tweeting,

"_Things aren't always what they seem. But you already knew that, right? Anyway, VEGAS for a few days! Stoked!_"

With that, she locked her phone and put it back in her pocket.

When she looked up, she watched Austin jump down from the stage and come over to her.

"What's with the face?" He asked as he sat down next to her.

She didn't even bother lying. "People think we're dating…"

"What?"

"After last night, that shit hit the internet and people are freaking out."

He stared at her for a second. "Are they… mad?"

"Some are, because of Abby. And a lot of others are mad probably just because you're dating anyone."

He nodded slowly.

"Are they fucking with you?"

"Kind of…"

Without another word, he pulled out his own phone and immediately started typing.

When he was done, he put it up and smiled at her.

She was confused, but a few seconds later, her phone beeped and she saw that he had mentioned her. She opened up her twitter and read over the tweet.

'_Guys, I'm asking nicely. Leave Kristen alone, please? Tour life is difficult we don't need all this with it!_'

"Thanks." She mumbled. She figured it either wouldn't help or would make it worse, but she was happy he tried to help.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"They'll just have to get over it." He gave her a small grin as Pierce The Veil started their soundcheck.

...

Kristen and the rest of the band had a sort of rough night as far as their set went.

A _lot _of people, or _girls_, rather, were angry with her. The crowd wasn't much into them tonight and she couldn't wait for it to be over with.

They stuck around until the end and helped pack everything up before they headed back to the hotel.

When they got back, pretty much all the members of all three bands decided to go out and party.

Kristen didn't want to go really anywhere, so she stayed in by herself.

But eventually she got bored, and decided to go out to the buses to play some video games. She hoped it would get her mind off of everything.

She turned on Just Dance, and went to one of her favorite songs to dance to; Tik Tok.

In the middle of the song, her heart almost stopped because the sound of the bus door opening scared the hell out of her; but a few seconds later, Austin appeared in front of her.

"What are you doing?" He laughed.

"Having my own party, since everyone else went out." She answered simply as she bent down like the game told her to.

She peered up at Austin to find him staring at her intently.

"Mind if I join?" He asked.

She giggled and nodded towards the couch, where the other remote was.

He waited patiently as she finished her song.

"Impressive." He said when she was done. "Can I pick the song?"

"Go ahead." She agreed as she drank a sip of her water.

She almost spit it out when she saw that he picked 'When I Grow Up' by The Pussycat Dolls. She laughed loudly.

He smiled. "What?"

"This… is funny. I can't wait to beat you."

"Bring it." He gave her a gaming stare as the music started.

Clearly, she had played this before.

"Shit!" Austin laughed out when he missed the first few moves.

She giggled at him.

He was amazed at how easy she made it seem. She followed everything perfectly, and looked _great_ doing it.

He almost felt bad for thinking that, but he really didn't.

She caught him staring and laughed again.

The song was about over and she already had 5 stars, opposed to his 2.

"You cheated!" He exclaimed playfully once the song ended.

"Or you just suck." She teased.

"Well, let's see how good you do on this one. You pick."

"Hmm," She closed her eyes, and pressed the button rapidly and picked one randomly.

Her jaw almost dropped when she saw that she landed on 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne.

"Shit," She breathed.

Austin just smiled at her as it started.

Kristen was feeling slightly hyper, so she shrugged and went with it.

"I don't like your girlfriend." She sang along with the music while they danced.

Austin's eyes moved to her, and she shrugged.

Both of them were focusing intently on the lyrics; Kristen because it amused her and Austin because he was actually starting to think that hey…

"She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking?" Kristen practically yelled out with the song.

They finished the song, but before it was over they had already dropped their remotes and were doing their own dances.

They were jumping around and laughing and almost right as the song faded they fell on the couch together.

It was silent for a few moments before Kristen started giggling.

"What?" Austin asked with a smile.

"That was fun."

He didn't say anything else, so they lay next to each other quietly for a few minutes.

"Want to keep playing?" She asked, breaking the silence.

"Actually, I was thinking, want to head over to the casinos and meet up with everyone?"

"I'm um, not dressed for that…"

"Change real quick back at the hotel? They're at the casino there anyway."

She didn't want to, but looking back at him, she agreed to go.

They shut off the game and locked the bus back up before heading back across the street to the hotel.

Austin went with her up to her room and waited patiently for her while she changed into a short green dress.

He smiled as she walked out of the bathroom.

"You look beautiful."

She felt her cheeks start to burn. "Thanks. You ready to go?"

"Yep." He opened the door and they headed downstairs.

...

Once they got down to the casino, they looked for their bandmates for around fifteen minutes before giving up.

"Let's just go play something ourselves, have our own fun." Austin suggested.

She nodded and followed him until he sat down at a table.

Austin started playing blackjack, and was pretty decent at it.

Eventually, a crowd had gathered around them.

Kristen was getting uncomfortable and Austin could tell.

"Just a few more." He promised.

Things continued for a couple minutes, and he ended up losing the hand.

The people around them "oooohed" and Austin turned to her.

"Why don't you give me a good luck kiss?"

"What?" She asked, shocked.

"Just one."

Her mind went blank and she slowly started to lean towards him.

He lifted his hand up to her cheek and pulled her closer until their lips met.

When they pulled away, the whole room seemed to be glowing. Her heart was going crazy over that one kiss.

She was barely paying attention but apparently, Austin had hit exactly 21 and won the game.

He stood up excitedly and kissed her cheek. "You did it!" He smiled at her.

She smiled back, still hazy after the kiss.

As promised, he took her back up to her room after that game.

He held her hand as they walked down the hall to their rooms.

He let go once she reached her room and kept walking to his.

She was slow in unlocking the door, and Austin stopped to look back at her.

"Wait," He called.

She looked up at him as he came back over to her.

He put a hand on her cheek, and one on her waist.

They stared back at each other for a few moments.

As cheesy as he thought it was to say, he found himself getting lost in her deep blue eyes. His vision blurred and he slowly started to lean towards her.

Their lips met again, and both could feel their heartbeats get faster.

The kiss was longer than the last, and both seemed reluctant to pull away.

They watched each other again, and then Austin smiled.

"Goodnight." He said sweetly.

"Night." She smiled at him before finally unlocking the door to her room and going inside.

Seeing her bandmates all in bed asleep, she grabbed some clothes and a toothbrush and went to get ready to join them.

She got changed quickly and started to brush her teeth.

While she was brushing, she finally started thinking about what happened.

'_What did you just do_?'

More importantly, what did _he_ do?

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt.

What if he knew how she felt about him? What if that's why he kissed her? What if he was just doing it to mess with her?

Her thoughts were starting to make her sick. Sadness and anger welled in her as she cried, and those feelings never were a good thing for her.

The more upset she got, the more the she was tempted to break the one promise she said she'd never break.

But she had to let this all out _somehow_.

Not having anything else, she dug her nails into her arm and scratched.

She let out a small scream and immediately cursed herself for it.

"Fuck," She hissed.

She heard rustling in the other room and panicked as blood started to drip down her arm.

A few seconds later, the door burst open, and Matt almost fell when the scene he was seeing sunk in.

"Please don't hate me…"


	4. Chapter 4

"What happened? Why are you doing this?" Matt asked with tears streaming down his face.

"I… I couldn't take it anymore…"

"Take what?" He tried to keep himself from shouting.

"Austin… and that girl."

Matt sighed. "Kristen, I really hate to say this to you, but you have to let it go. Let him do whatever and if they break up and you still feel the same, go for it. But until then…"

"It's not that easy!" She said back through her own tears.

"Do you really think it would be easy for you and Austin to maintain a relationship at this point? Both of you on the same tour, us becoming famous. We have more important things to worry about and we need you. If all of your attention is focused on some guy then we're fucked!"

She sank down as she continued to cry, sitting on the edge of the counter. She knew Matt was just going to keep yelling at her and that wasn't going to help anything.

"It's not even about me, Matt! I just don't want him with her. Why can't he just be lonely like me?"

"He needs someone just as much as you do; only difference is that he doesn't want you."

Matt regretted his words as soon as he said it.

The hurt look that crossed her face almost broke his heart. He stepped over and put an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." She forced a laugh. "You're right."

"No, I shouldn't have said that."

She shrugged. "Which bed do I get?"

"Mine. Caleb and Kasey took the other."

She nodded and went to lie down.

Matt grabbed a small towel before following her lead.

As he crawled up next to her, he wrapped the towel around her arm.

"Thanks." She whispered quietly.

He didn't answer, but he did rub her arm for a second before leaving her alone to sleep.

...

At around 9AM, Matt woke up to find Kasey and Caleb already up and moving around, getting ready to go do whatever they'd planned for the day.

"When do you guys think you'll be out of here?" He asked softly, careful not to wake her.

"Before 10." Kasey answered.

"Okay, cool."

He got up and got himself ready as well, before picking up the phone and heading to the bathroom.

"Hello?" Austin answered. It sounded like he was already awake.

"Come back," Matt could hear Abby in the background.

He shook his head in disgust. "Look, Kristen needs you."

Austin's tone turned alert and worried. "What's wrong?"

"She kinda freaked out last night… I don't know why." Matt lied. "We're all leaving, and I want you to be here when she wakes up; maybe she'll talk to you."

"When do you need me?"

"In maybe, fifteen minutes?"

"I'll be there."

"No you won't!" Abby shouted angrily.

"Ignore her, yes I will."

Matt could hear her continue to argue with him but Austin had ended the call.

He believed that he would come; he just hoped she stayed asleep long enough.

...

When Kristen woke up, she noticed that the towel around her arm was gone, and that the scratches had healed up for the most part.

She sighed loudly as someone sat on the bed next to her. She assumed it was Matt, and she really didn't want him getting angry again.

Maybe if she pretended she was still asleep, he'd leave…

He leaned down a little bit, but was still sitting up. He took a bite of something, and other than that the room was silent.

She didn't want him to sit around and be bored just because of her.

She sat up and turned to face him. "Look, Matt, you don't have to-"

Her throat caught in the middle of her sentence when she turned around to see Austin looking back at her.

"Good morning." He smiled.

"Wha… what are you doing here?"

"Just chilling. Do you want me to leave?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm just confused."

"Why?"

"Are you here to mock me about last night? Because I really don't want or need that."

"Are you talking about us kissing? Why would I make fun of you about that?"

"I don't know, seems like men get a sick joy out of fucking with girl's emotions."

Austin frowned. "You really think that that's why I kissed you?"

She stared back at him with empty eyes.

"Kristen, no,"

"Save it."

"That's not fair." He pleaded.

"I think you should go."

His eyes welled with tears and he didn't know what to do.

He grabbed her face with a slight roughness and kissed her.

She only resisted for a second before she kissed him back. She could feel her chest tighten and almost cried knowing what she was about to say.

But first, she shifted her weight and pinned him down on the bed; kissing him deeply before she had to give him up.

The kiss lasted longer than it should have before they pulled away.

Austin sat back up and stared at her sadly. "We can't."

Kristen took a deep breath, and used every ounce of strength she had left in her body to say what she said next.

"I don't think we should be friends anymore."

He looked at her in disbelief, unable to speak. "Wha…?"

"There is no point in doing this to me and you're just going to go back to your girlfriend so just go, please, go."

"Is that really what you want?"

She didn't look at him. Her eyes watered but she choked out a "Yes."

He didn't say anything back, just sat still as he openly cried.

Austin hoped that after a few minutes she would say she changed her mind, but when she didn't, he decided to get up and leave.

His heart hurt. He hadn't hurt this bad since he lost his mom. Now he'd lost both of his best friends, and he knew it'd be basically impossible to cope with both of them gone. The only reason he was even able to be okay after his mom was because of her, and now what? Abby wouldn't care; no one else in the band would get it. He was screwed.

He walked back to his room with tears staining his cheeks.

He should've told her. He thought it would be better if it was just unspoken. But the pain in his chest told him otherwise.

Was he supposed to just leave this broken? Because he couldn't do that. He couldn't just, not have her around. She was his light. She made everything better. He couldn't just let her go.

When he walked back into his room, he found it empty. Apparently Abby had left.

He agreed that it was better as he jumped down on the bed and continued to cry.

There was no getting over this one.

...

For the remainder of their time in Vegas, Kristen didn't leave the room once. Not until the last day, when she was literally forced to go have dinner with everyone.

Austin spotted her when Of Mice & Men finally made it, and he moved quickly to sit next to her.

He sat down beside her and smiled widely when she looked at him.

She stared back for a second before getting up and walking to the other side of the table and sitting down next to Mike.

Austin's face fell, and he wasn't able to be interested in anything for the rest of the night.

He kept his eyes on her, but she didn't look at him even once. That was, until the end of the night.

They couldn't all fit on the elevator, so a few of them had to wait.

Kristen waited until everyone else was gone, but Austin waited with her.

She didn't speak or look at him, but the tension was obvious.

When the elevator opened for the last time, she walked on and Austin came with her.

It was quiet for only a few seconds before he broke.

"You were serious, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"Because I'm not going to keep hurting myself over this. You have your girlfriend. You're happy. If I keep being your friend, I'm going to keep being around you and it's just going to get worse."

"Tell me what to do!" He cried as the elevator opened.

She walked out and he chased after her, grabbing her arm and turning her around so that she faced him.

The other band members were all taking their stuff back out to the buses, but they were stopping to see what was going on.

"Give up. Just like I did." She said simply.

"But I can't!" His eyes threatened to spill again.

"Well I guess you better try. We have nine more weeks on this tour. Good luck." She pulled away and disappeared into her room.

Alan stopped when he got next to Austin.

"Are you okay? What's going on?"

"No."

"Come on. We already got your stuff on the bus; you can come talk to me."

He knew it would be pointless to keep waiting for her, so he silently nodded in agreement.

* * *

**A/N: So I just wanted to say that if you've actually been reading this, I love you. So much. You're wonderful. Thank you! 3**


	5. Chapter 5

"What's going on?" Alan asked quietly with a serious tone. Phil and Tino had gone to bed as soon as the bus started moving, but he needed to talk to Austin. They'd been putting it off for too long.

"She won't even talk to me. I fucked up, Alan. Really bad." Austin was already on edge.

"Why?"

He let out a small breath. "The other night, we went over to the casinos by ourselves and we ended up kissing a couple times and she thinks I was just playing games."

"Austin…" Alan sighed. "Do you realize what you've done? This is a huge mess."

"I know that! But I don't know what to do. She was the one who always helped me through everything." He looked at the floor distantly.

"_You_ need to set everything straight."

"I can't do that to Abby…"

"Austin," Alan said firmly. "Don't do that. She'll be fine, trust me. You can't do that to yourself. You've been miserable for days. You matter too. Your best friend and the girl of your dreams could very well never be in your life ever again. Which thought hurts you more?"

Austin's eyes watered as he looked back up at Alan.

Alan put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know how it must suck, but she's going to find someone too and then what? You're running out of time."

"But she won't even talk to me." He breathed desperately.

"She'll open back up eventually. And when she does, you better take that ball and fucking run with it."

Austin gave him a small smile.

Alan squeezed his shoulder and stood up.

"I'll leave you to think. Wake me up when we're in Arizona."

"Will do." Austin replied.

Once Alan was gone, Austin sighed loudly as his thoughts consumed him.

...

Of Mice & Men were the last ones to arrive for the show in Scottsdale the next night.

They didn't get back until the middle of The New Revolution's set.

Austin cursed himself for making them late. He wanted to spend every second he could watching Kristen and he had missed much of their performance.

He watched them intently, trying his best to ignore Abby while she hung all over him.

"Come on, babe. You go on soon. We could get something in before that."

"No, stop. I'm watching them."

"You've watched them every night since the tour started. I think you know their entire act forwards and backwards by now." She whined.

"Well they put on an amazing show every time. It's something you don't want to miss, even if you've seen it a thousand times." Austin replied sarcastically. He doubted she would ever be able to understand what he meant.

Abby scoffed and stopped begging, but continued to hug on him and keep contact.

When Kristen and her band came off stage, Austin watched her eyes flicker to them. He saw a flash of pain before she darted them away.

As soon as Austin realized that it was because of Abby, he pushed her away.

"What the fuck?"

"I'm just not in the mood to deal with you tonight."

"Oh, whatever!" She shouted before storming off.

Austin shook his head but didn't think about it for a second longer as he ran over to Kristen.

Kristen took a deep breath as he approached her.

"Kristen, you did great." He forced a soft smile.

She nodded at him, avoiding his eyes.

"Please." He begged.

Still not reaching his eyes, she shook her head.

Austin felt his heart break more every second. "Please." He whimpered again.

She lifted her eyes until they met his, and he saw a familiar sadness in hers.

"Austin! Let's go!" Tino called to him.

He frowned at her for a few more moments before heading towards the stage.

...

"_My body's failing; I think I've hit the floor. I can't remember anything anymore_." Austin screamed passionately as they finished The Depths.

He peered over at Kristen, knowing she was watching.

Austin felt a sting of hope as he turned back to the crowd.

"I'm sure a lot of you have seen it; remember when I sang Second & Sebring with my best friend in the whole world? What would you guys say to hear that tonight?"

The crowd cheered back positively, and Austin ran to her.

She protested, but he was able to bring her back on stage.

He handed her a mic, but she dropped it.

His face fell and the crowd went silent.

"I… I can't." She said quietly. Looking up to the sky, she whispered. "I'm sorry."

The crowd turned on her quickly, and started booing immediately when she started to walk off stage.

To save themselves, they started the song right after, but Austin found it hard to focus.

If his mother had been here now, he was sure that she wouldn't be proud of what he'd done.

...

After the show ended, Austin stayed around a couple extra hours to help clean up the venue.

He was taking all the trash out to the dumpster and heard the sound of crying.

Concerned, he turned the corner and saw Kristen sitting next to Tony. She was crying. Her face in the dim streetlight and the light from her phone showed that she'd probably been doing it for a while.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

She looked up at him and more tears left her eyes. She stood up and walked away.

Tony sighed loudly and tilted his head back against the wall.

"What happened?" Austin asked again.

Tony lifted the phone towards him.

Taking it, Austin's eyes widened.

'_How dare she, that was pathetic. She needs to just get over the fact that Abby is Austin's girlfriend and he loves HER._'

'_I would've smacked that bitch._'

'_Has anyone thought that it's not about Abby? Maybe she was just nervous today. Who knows?_'

'_It's good that she didn't sing with them again. She's fucking awful. It was bad enough the first time._'

Austin was appalled at the messages. His face showed as much as he handed the phone back to Tony.

"All because she didn't sing with you. Can you believe that?"

"That's crazy." Austin couldn't believe it.

"It is." Tony hesitated to continue. "I'm really worried about her. I know she's being stubborn but you need to talk to her. Straighten this stuff out. If you don't want to be with her, tell her that. Don't leave her guessing anymore. And if you care about her, make her believe it. She doesn't deserve any of this."

Austin felt himself go numb. "Okay."

Nervousness engulfed him knowing that he'd just agreed to the seemingly impossible.

...

Austin spent all of the following day looking for Kristen, but he couldn't find her.

He finally gave up and started to head back to the venue.

"Austin, Austin! Can we speak to you?"

Austin absolutely did _not _want to turn them away, but he just wasn't feeling good right now.

"Guys, I'm not okay right now. I can't." He tried to walk past them.

"Please?"

"I-I'm sorry. I have to get to the show."

The two guys stopped and frowned.

"Everything okay?" One of them asked.

He sighed. "I have to go tell my best friend something. Something very important."

"Kristen?"

"Yes."

"Go." The other guy spoke up. "Run to her."

Austin thought it was extremely strange, but he listened and jogged off to the venue.

...

"_Circles, we're going in circles. Dizzy's all it makes us. We know where it takes us, we've been before_."

Austin watched with watering eyes as she sang.

Her voice was beautiful. Her movements were graceful. _She _was gorgeous.

Why in the hell hadn't he noticed this years ago?

He wanted to just hold her and stay there forever.

Ugh. This was awful.

The time during set changes was fuzzy, and Austin's performance was sketchy.

He wasn't in the right mindset to be performing tonight.

Hopefully sleep would make it all go away.

...

After getting everything put up, Austin began walking back to the buses alone.

As he walked across the parking lot, he could hear distant shouting.

He looked around to find where it was coming from.

Across from the buses, Austin saw two girls clearly trying to intimidate another.

It took him half a second to realize that that girl was Kristen.

"Who are you to think that you had any right even being in Austin's _presence_?" One girl asked.

"He won't ever want you! Sorry, bitch!" The other continued.

"Hey!" Austin screamed angrily.

"Oh, hey babe." The stranger cooed. "Don't worry; we were just taking care of this bitch."

"Piss off." He growled, moving in front of Kristen protectively.

One of them sneered. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting you the fuck out of here. Leave her alone and go away."

"You're really picking her over fans?"

"You aren't fans. You either are extremely creepily obsessed or you just want to fuck. Either way, we don't need you around here. Now go." Austin said in a low voice. He wanted them gone. Now. It was people like them that were causing Kristen to get so down.

"Ugh, fine. You're a bitch anyway."

They kept making pointless threats and insults as they walked away. As soon as they got in their car, Austin gasped as something grabbed him.

He looked down to see Kristen with her arms wrapped around him tightly as she cried against his chest.

"Thank you. So much." She whispered.

"Of course." Austin hugged her back.

They hugged in silence for a few minutes before she started to pull away.

"Thanks, really. I can't thank you enough."

Austin smiled.

"But I still can't be around you."

His smile fell. "Why?"

"I'm… better this way." The words were so pained. Rightfully so, as they hurt both of them.

"It'll be better with me." He pleaded.

"Yeah, I don't think so. I'm sorry, Austin."

"But-"

"We need to go before we get stuck in New Mexico." She started to move towards the buses.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her and turning her so she faced him. "I'll take it if I get to be with you."

She pulled her arm away softly and looked at him with shimmering eyes.

"I'm sorry."

When she walked away this time, he made no moves to stop her. He watched her leave until she disappeared into her tour bus.


	6. Chapter 6

The next week and a half, the bands made their way all throughout Texas. The first show after was in Lebanon, Missouri; hometown of Kasey.

Austin and Kristen hadn't spoken since the night he helped her with the girls in the parking lot, much to Austin's dismay.

She spent the entire day with Kasey; meeting fans and hanging out with his old friends and enjoying herself.

Austin watched from afar, not sure if it hurt him or not to see her happy. After what Alan said last night, he was worried about _anyone_ being around her. Who knows, what if in a couple days she started dating Kasey? That thought definitely made him uneasy. Sure, they'd been friends for a while, but so have she and Austin, and now look where they are.

All day, Austin felt as if something was up. Something was going to happen. He just didn't know what.

...

The crowd cheered loudly as The New Revolution finished one of their songs.

They took in the energy, and just watched the crowd for a few moments before Kristen started speaking.

"So, tonight, we've decided to change it up a bit. Usually we end things on an angry-ish note, but I've been feeling kind of down lately. This song is by the amazing Ed Sheeran, and it's called U.N.I."

Austin had perked up as soon as she had mentioned a new song.

He listened intently as she sang, and had to keep himself from tearing up. She had to be singing this to him.

"_Our last kiss, it was perfect but we were nervous on the surface. And I'm always saying every day that it was worth it, pain is only relevant if it still hurts_…"

He kept the tears away, but he felt himself feel weak and limp hearing how she felt.

He stared at the ground as she continued singing.

As she sang the last couple lines, he looked at her from across the stage with sad eyes.

"_You and I ended over U N I. And I said that's fine, but you're the only one that knows I lied_."

His mind went blank when he saw her look right at him.

_I said that's fine, but you're the only one that knows I lied._

_..._

"We have one song left, but I'd just like to say one thing first." Austin said slowly before the band could start the final song.

"Not gonna name any names, but there is someone out there and I just want you to know, if I was gonna go somewhere, I'd be there by now." He took a quick breath. "I haven't said I was fine since this started. You say that there's no way we'll ever work it out. So I'd like to know, am I close to you anymore if it's over? Can you really just throw away a connection like ours?"

Austin was well aware that he was probably confusing pretty much everyone at this point, so he figured he should probably wrap it up.

He looked across the stage, and saw glassy blue eyes staring back at him. He hit home.

Staring right back at her, he spoke softly into the microphone. "She loved you, but never more than I did. This song is called Second & Sebring."

...

When the song was over, Austin went straight to Kristen.

"Really?" She asked. Her tone sounded more hurt than anything.

"It doesn't have to be over, Kristen."

She let out a frustrated sigh and quickly ran down the nearby hallway.

Silently, Austin followed. He had no idea where she was going. The walls began to look unfamiliar and he was sure this hadn't been around early. Maybe he was going crazy, but he followed her.

She stopped at the end of the hall and opened a door, not even bothering to close it.

He watched her drop to her knees and start crying.

"Kristen," He pleaded.

She twisted around and stared at him shock. "Why are you here?"

"Because we need to talk."

"There's nothing to say."

"There is plenty to say! I need you back in my life. I can't do this anymore."

"_You_ can't? Austin, I'm a fucking wreck without you!" She cried out. She was sick of holding everything in. It was about time that ten years of held in emotions came out.

"I'm not doing much better." He replied calmly.

She scoffed. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Really? Ask Alan. Tony. Anyone. I've been miserable ever since you told me we couldn't be friends anymore. Do you know how bad it hurt to think I lost you?"

"Not as much as it hurt me to know that I lost you a long time ago."

"Kristen," He stepped closer to her. "You never lost me."

"I never had you."

His struggled to keep breathing. "You've had me since 6th grade. I just never knew it."

"Yeah, well I did. I've always known it. But you moved on and here I am crying over someone who never wanted me to begin with!"

"Kristen!"

"I love you, Austin!" She screamed with tears streaming down her face. "I love you so fucking much. I've never wanted anything except you. Do you even understand how easily you broke my heart during this tour? Before, it was always my fault. I lost every chance I had to tell you. But I had hope. This tour, I would finally tell you. Then the first day, as soon as I see you, you're making out with some girl! That hurt!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know back then!"

"It was a month ago!"

He moved closer again, to where he was right against her, looking down at her red face. "It took you leaving to make me realize how much I loved you. I don't ever want you to be away from me. I can't take it. I love you."

She stared at him, searching his face for the signs that he was lying. She found none, but after everything, she didn't believe him.

"You're lying. And you know what? None of this would've ever happened if you wouldn't have started doing that to begin with." She pushed past him and began walking out of the room.

"I'm not lying! Please come back!"

She stopped at the doorway and looked back him.

He finally saw all of the pain she'd endured over the years because of _him_.

She blinked before turning away and leaving.

Austin couldn't move. He was in shock.

He'd finally admitted his feelings to both her and himself, and she walked away. This was all too much.

Kristen spoke of lost chances, and he knew that if he didn't take care of a major problem then there was no chance at all for him.

He dashed out of the room, hoping to get to the bus as fast as possible.

...

He entered the bus in a rush, heading straight towards the back.

He found Abby lying in his bunk.

"You ready for bed yet?"

"We need to talk." He said firmly.

She sat up and let out an annoyed breath. "About what?"

"You need to go."

She laughed. "What?"

"I don't want you here. Go."

"Are you breaking up with me?" She asked angrily.

He sighed. "Yes."

"Ugh!" She scoffed as she jumped down from the bunk. "I knew you were cheating on me with that bitch!" She yelled as she started grabbing her stuff.

Austin was taken aback by her words, but didn't even bother arguing. It was over with. His only concern was getting to Kristen.

He waited impatiently for Abby to get all of her stuff. She stormed off the bus, informing everyone loudly that she wouldn't be coming back.

Austin gave her time to get away before he ran towards the front of the bus.

Their driver stopped him.

"We're leaving, you can't go."

"Just five minutes, please. That's all I need." Austin begged.

The driver watched him closely for a few moments before nodding. "Hurry back."

Austin let out the breath he was holding and burst out the door.

He practically ran across the parking lot to get to Pierce The Veil's bus.

He opened the door and let himself in.

Tony and Vic were sitting in the front practicing guitar.

"Where is Kristen?"

"In the back lounge." Tony answered.

"Just be careful passing the bunks, most of them are passed out." Vic added.

Austin nodded and silently made his way to the back, where he found Kristen curled up on the couch.

She looked at him, but looked away just as quickly.

"Kristen, look at me."

She rolled over to where she faced him. "What do you want?"

"You."

"Yeah, well that's a problem. You should talk to your girlfriend about that."

"She's gone. I never wanted her anyway. It's you that I want."

She stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. Taking her hand, he looked into her eyes. "I love you. I always have. I was just too stupid to see it. I've been searching for the perfect girl, and she's been right there beside me for 12 years."

She gave up trying to fight it. "I love you too, Austin."

Without even thinking over it, he pulled her face to his and kissed her.

She kissed back, literally shaking with happiness and nervousness. She'd wanted this for years, and her mind couldn't quite register that it was finally happening.

Austin was finally _hers_.

Their kiss was broken by the sharp jerk of the bus starting to move.

"Oh, shit." Austin started to laugh. "I guess I'm going to have to spend the night here."

She smirked. "Is that a problem, Carlile?"

"Not at all. It means I get to spend the rest of my night with the most beautiful girl in the world." He smiled and hugged her close.

She giggled as she leaned against his chest. This was all she ever wanted. And this would be the first of many nights they spent in each other's arms.


	7. Chapter 7

The first two weeks of what had been built up for over 10 years was as blissful and magical as anyone could've imagined.

They were finally able to be open about their feelings, and got to tour through Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and New Jersey playing music with all of their best friends. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Sure, there were plenty of fans who gladly gave their opinion on their relationship; many of which were not happy.

Austin laughed at them. Kristen was still slightly hurt by all the hate she got, but when she looked up and saw Austin smiling back at her, she was able to brush it all away.

He was everything she could've ever asked for.

Now, just two weeks later, Kristen and Austin were sitting outside in New York leaning against the Pierce The Veil bus holding hands.

It was chilly and slightly wet outside and Austin didn't like the weather, but he knew how much she did and didn't want her out all by herself. At least if she got a cold, so would he.

They'd been sitting in silence for about ten minutes before Austin spoke.

"You're not cold yet?" He laughed as he talked.

"Nope."

"But you're from Florida! Aren't you supposed to hate this stuff?"

She giggled. "And since when did I ever fit typical molds?"

He sighed jokingly. "True. But thank god for that."

"Why?"

"It'd be horrible having a bunch of people that acted just like you running around everywhere."

She dropped her jaw for a second, but closed it quickly.

"I'd stick my tongue out at you but I'm not sure if it would freeze." She tried to keep from laughing.

"Sure, that's the reason. You just know that I'd bite your tongue before you could."

"Oh really?"

Austin squeezed her hand and smiled. "Yes, really."

She stuck her tongue out immediately and Austin's hand flew up, grabbing it.

"Let go!" She tried to get out the words, but failed.

"What's that? Cat got your tongue?" Austin couldn't help but laugh.

"If you're a cat now, then yes."

Austin giggled uncontrollably at her trying to talk while he held her tongue. He found it adorable.

"It really is getting cold." She barely made out.

Austin let out another laugh. "Here, let me help."

He released her tongue, and brought his warm mouth to hers.

The contrasting temperatures warred for only a few seconds before Austin's warmth took over.

She leaned into his kiss, already dizzy. She would never get used to this being real.

After a few long moments, they pulled away slowly.

"Better?" He asked with a small smile.

She smiled back as she laid her head down on his chest. "Much."

The air grew silent, but it didn't last long before the tour bus opened up and Kristen's bandmates walked out.

"Get up, lover girl. We got stuff to do." Matt said excitedly.

"What stuff?" She asked as she and Austin stood up, shaking the small amount of snow off of them.

"We have an interview! You didn't forget did you?" Caleb raised an eyebrow at her. "Are we going to have to have a talk with Carlile over there?"

"No, I just don't remember being told." She smiled to herself. "Who's interviewing us?"

"Bryan Stars."

"No way, really?" Austin seemed more excited than anyone.

"Yep."

"That's awesome! I love that guy." Austin put an arm around Kristen. "Make sure you tell him to come by our bus later. It'd be awesome to see him."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Well, we should get going. I'll see you at soundcheck."

She leaned up, kissing Austin's cheek.

He retaliated by catching her lips before she could move away from him.

She smiled as she pulled away.

"Race ya!" Kasey shouted as he started running towards the venue.

Kristen let out a laugh and gave Austin one last smile before chasing after her friends.

...

As Kristen finally made it into the room where they were doing the interview, she took off her jacket, revealing a Nevershoutnever! tank top beneath it.

Matt let out a loud whistle.

She turned to him with red cheeks. "Shut up."

Sitting down next to Kasey, she turned to Bryan.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hello. You guys ready for this?"

"Hell yeah." Caleb spoke up.

"I think you guys are the least known band I've interviewed. So how about we give the world a reason to remember your names?" Bryan smiled sheepishly at them.

"Let's do it." Kristen agreed energetically.

He smiled at her knowingly and turned to the camera, waiting for the cue.

"What's up guys this is Bryan Stars and I'm here in New York City hanging out with a brand new band called The New Revolution. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" He started off.

"I'm Kristen, I sing."

"I'm Kasey, I play bass."

"My name's Matt and I play guitar."

"Name's Caleb and I am a drummer."

"Alright, you guys are currently touring with both Of Mice & Men and Pierce The Veil; what makes you guys different from them and all the other bands that maybe could've gotten your slot instead?"

"Well, Kristen's a girl. That doesn't happen that often." Matt motioned towards her.

"We're a rock band that covers One Direction songs." She added.

"Really? Got that One Direction infection?" Bryan laughed.

"Well, I do. They don't like it that much but I love those guys." She giggled.

"Okay." He laughed back, flipping through his papers. "Describe the person next to you using one word."

Caleb turned to Kasey. "Vampire."

The band laughed.

Kasey looked a Kristen for a few seconds. "One word… I don't know. Um, Anchor."

"Why would you say that?" Bryan asked.

"Well it was because of the shirt, but thinking about it she really does keep us grounded."

"That's not true." She cut in. "It's usually you guys that have to keep me on my feet."

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Kasey looked at her knowingly.

"Fair enough." Bryan said. "Do you have one for me?" He turned to Matt.

"Uhhh," Matt thought it over. "Smurf."

"Smurf?"

"I don't know, blue jacket." Matt laughed awkwardly.

Bryan laughed it off and continued with the interview. "Do you guys have any like, inside jokes?"

The band snickered.

"Me and Josh Ramsay, the lead singer of Marianas Trench, we have our own religion." Kristen giggled as she recalled the joke they made up months ago.

"Your own religion? Really?"

"Yeah."

"What are the rules that you have to follow?"

She stared blankly for a moment. "I don't know, you'll have to ask him." She started laughing.

"Very well. So um, this is you guys' first tour, correct?"

They nodded.

"What has been your craziest tour memory so far?"

Both Kristen and Matt tried to speak, but she stopped and let him speak.

"Like, the second day of the tour, Kristen woke up really early and she ended up hitting her head on the ceiling, and then rolling out of bed and falling onto the ground." Matt laughed loudly. "It was so funny, because the night before she had called the top bunk. And then she fell. I thought it was hilarious."

She stuck her tongue out at Matt.

"Oh, no, please. We all know where that thing's been today."

Her jaw dropped. She had hoped that Bryan didn't hear it, but his face showed that he did. But he didn't say anything right away.

"What was your memory?"

"For me, it had to be the San Diego show. Austin Carlile pulled me on stage with him and we basically crashed the end of Pierce The Veil's set. I felt so bad, oh my god." She laughed softly.

"Speaking of tongues and Austin Carlile; the rumors about you and him, are they true?" He asked with a smile.

She began smiling like crazy, and her face started to turn red. She looked away for a second. "Can I skip this one?"

"Nope, have to answer." He said playfully.

She didn't speak but she bit her lip, holding back her smile and nodded slowly.

"So you're dating him? Really?"

She kept nodding awkwardly. She felt so nervous.

"Aw!"

"Oh, and he wants you to come by their bus later."

They all laughed.

"I'm serious," She giggled. "He wanted me to tell you that."

"I'll have to do that." He said as he found the next question. "Who is your current favorite band?"

"Of Mice & Men." Kristen said quickly. She held a straight face for only a few seconds before she started giggling.

"Of course, right? You guys?"

"The Ready Set." Kasey said.

Bryan turned the mic to Caleb. "A Day to Remember."

"Matt?"

"Oh, my favorite will always be Green Day. Always."

Bryan nodded as he read the final question. "Well, this is the last question, and it's mostly for Kristen; not sure how much you guys are into comic books and stuff,"

Kristen's smile widened.

"Who is your favorite superhero?"

"Captain America. No question." She answered easily.

"Hawkeye." Kasey laughed.

"That girl from the Avengers." Matt said.

Bryan laughed. "Black Widow?"

"Yeah, her." He smiled to himself.

"Caleb?"

"Ahhh," He breathed. "I don't think I have one."

"You're lame." Kristen said.

"You're the lame one." He stuck his tongue out at her.

She did it back.

They all started laughing as they had to wrap up the interview.

"Is there anything you want to say to the fans?"

"Um, yeah. Thanks for watching. That's awesome. If you can, check us out. Come see us live. I'll give you free Of Mice & Men merch." She kept her gaze for a few moments. "Okay I'm kidding I can't do that."

Bryan laughed as the cameras shut off. "Thanks guys, that was fun!"

"Oh no problem." They said.

They cleaned up a bit before leaving.

As soon as Kristen left the room, she found Austin waiting for her.

He smiled at her. "How did it go?"

"Great, I think." She answered as he slipped his hand into hers and they began walking down the hall.

"Any weird questions?" He chuckled.

"He asked about us."

"What'd you say?"

"That Of Mice & Men is my favorite band."

His eyes let off a playful glow. "That's it?"

"I might have mentioned that you were mine."

He squeezed her hand again. "Good."

Leaning over, he kissed her forehead just as they walked into the open and currently empty pit.

...

The rest of the night flowed on as usual, and now Austin stood breathless in front of a sold out crowd that was screaming their name.

"Guys, I hate to be 'that guy', but I've been so fucking happy lately. I have to let it all out and share it with you." He spoke out. His eyes flickered over to the side of the stage and into Kristen's shining eyes. She smiled at him.

"One of the major things about these careers is that we're never home. And if we're in relationships, it's crazy. But I am _so_ lucky. I have the privilege of having my wonderful girlfriend on tour with me. I get to see her every day and I get to see her perform almost every night. It's magical. I've never been this happy. My mom always used to tell me that I would end up with Kristen, but I was too stupid to ever listen. Well, mom," He looked up at the sky. "You were right."

He moved his gaze back to Kristen, and motioned for her to come on the stage.

She hesitated, but made her way over to him.

He held his hand out, and she took it.

"Mom, I wish you were here to make fun of me for taking so long to realize that I _love _this girl. We miss you."

Kristen started to cry as Austin handed her a mic.

"This is our last song, and it's called _Second & Sebring._"

...

"I don't think I could ever stress how much she actually loved you." Austin said quietly.

They were wandering across the street from the parking lot that their buses were in, going to get dinner after the show.

"I loved her too."

"It's so crazy. She'd be all over me about this. It sucks that she's not here."

It was she that gave his hand a reassuring squeeze this time.

"She's looking down at you and saying 'I told you so.'" Kristen smiled softly as they entered the restaurant.

They were seated almost immediately, as the place was empty.

"Wait, don't order. I have a surprise." Austin said before she could open the menu.

She gave him a confused look, but he smiled back at her, and she couldn't argue with that.

When the waiter returned, Austin gave him the order.

"Can we get like, just one big plate of spaghetti. With a bunch of meatballs."

He took it down, and headed to put the order in.

"Why?" She laughed.

"Because, I figured we could have a little Lady and the Tramp thing going on. I know how much you love that movie."

She stared at him curiously. "I haven't told you that in years."

He smiled. "I remembered."

She took his hand, and held it quietly while they waited for their food.

...

"That was perfect. Thank you so much." Kristen thanked him as they approached the Pierce The Veil bus.

"Oh, no problem. It was great and all for you. I'm glad you enjoyed it." He smiled at her in the moonlight.

He gave her a kiss goodnight and waited for her to go in.

When she tried to open the door, it was locked.

She knocked on it. "Guys?"

Jaime and Caleb's faces popped up in the window.

"You can go and get all cuddly on their bus tonight! We need a break from all that adorableness!" Jaime called through the window.

She let out a desperate sigh and turned to Austin.

He smiled and held out his hand.

She took it and he led her over to the Of Mice & Men bus.

The door opened right up, and she sighed.

"Oh, look who he brought, guys." Alan smiled at her once she came into view.

"We got kicked out of their bus for hugging." Austin laughed, moving around a few things on the counter with his spare hand before leaning against it.

"Really?"

"Yep." Austin laughed with him.

"Well, we're all heading to bed. What are you guys going to do?" Alan paused. "Actually, don't tell me. Just keep it quiet." He joked. Sort of. "Goodnight." He finished as he followed the others to the bunks.

"Want to just watch a movie in the lounge?" Austin suggested.

"Sure." She agreed.

She almost fell as the bus started moving, but Austin caught her.

"You okay?" He held her close.

"Yeah," She laughed awkwardly. "I always fall when we start moving."

He laughed with her, and started to lead her towards the lounge.

They passed through the bunks and could hear soft whistles from the guys.

She rolled her eyes at them, but she thought it was funny.

"Here, you can pick the movie. I'll go get us some blankets." Austin said before going back to the bunks.

She didn't plan on staying awake too much longer, so she just picked up the first Star Wars movie and waited for Austin to get back.

He pulled all the sheets, pillows and blankets off of his bunk and brought them back into the lounge, and began setting up a small bed for them on the floor.

"What'd you pick?" He asked as he laid out the blankets.

"Star Wars." She laughed slightly.

"Oooh, love it!" He gave her a big smile as he plopped down on the makeshift bed.

"Join me."

She smiled back at him and crawled down next to him.

They snuggled up together as the movie started playing.

As predicted, she didn't stay up much longer. She fell asleep laying on Austin's chest.

Austin muted the movie, and stayed up just feeling her heartbeat against him and listening to her breathe.

Even the smallest thing about her captivated him.

Hundreds of memories and ideas began flashing in his mind. He thought and thought until the soft sound of her breathing lulled him to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Since getting together, time had been flying by. Three more weeks had gone by, and there were only two more weeks left of the tour.

Kristen was up early this morning, making breakfast for Of Mice & Men.

She had spent another couple nights in their bus, so she thought it would be a good way to thank them.

She was putting everything out onto plates when Austin came out from behind the curtain that covered the bunks.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said before kissing her cheek.

"Morning." She smiled back at him.

He smiled back as he looked around at the food. "You did all this for us?"

"Yep. Even made some for the other guys. We'll take it to them after you guys finish."

"Sounds like a plan! I'll go wake everyone else up." A playful smirk curled onto Austin's lips as he turned back towards his bandmates.

"Guys, get up."

Nothing.

"Guys, we have a gig."

There was a slight mumble, but no one made an effort to move.

"Kristen made food."

Within seconds, all three of the other boys were out of their bunks and crowding the small table.

As everyone settled in and began eating, they started a small conversation.

"So I heard your band was out pretty late last night. Ever played with a hungover band before?" Alan asked Kristen. He seemed to be joking with her, but she knew there was something serious about his words.

"No. Is it that bad?"

He pursed his lips. "Let's just say, you're in for _quite_ a day."

If only he knew.

...

"Ugh! This is terrible!" Caleb screamed, throwing his drumsticks down and walking away from his drumset.

"You can't do that, Caleb." Kristen said softly, but sternly.

"Fuck you I can't! My head is killing me! The sound of a pen dropping would make it pound and you want me to play drums?"

"I _need_ you to play them."

Kasey and Matt were less whiny, but weren't doing much better than Caleb.

This really was a disaster.

"You guys really couldn't wait just two weeks before going out and drinking yourselves into a hole?" She snapped at them.

"Oh, please, princess. Sorry we aren't all Straight Edge like you. My fucking apologies." Caleb fought back.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not about that. We have a show tonight, I can't do it by myself and I can't do it when you guys are like this!"

"Okay, I'm done with this." Caleb darted towards the exit. "Come wake me up when she stops being a bitch or the show starts. Whichever comes first."

She let out a whimper as she looked to Kasey and Matt.

They gave each other a look before turning back to her.

"We'll be back later. Promise." Kasey told her quietly.

Austin walked onto the stage as they walked off.

"What's going on?" He asked, pulling her close to him.

She let out a nervous breath.

"Tonight is going to be trouble."

...

A few hours later, Caleb and the band returned for their set. But all were still tired and weren't feeling it tonight.

Caleb tripped up numerous times, and each time seemed to blame it on something else.

Kristen was embarrassed for all of them, but there was nothing she could do.

She apologized to the fans nonchalantly, but it angered her bandmates further.

They had disappeared after their set, but after the whole show was over, the trio showed back up.

"Why the fuck did you say that?" Caleb hissed angrily at Kristen as he watched her move around equipment.

"Because it's bullshit that they had to watch that. Even if they aren't here for us, they deserve to see an opening band that at least respects them enough to stay sober for the show."

"Oh, because they all respect us so much, right? Most of them fucking hate your guts, and you're worried about us showing _them _respect?"

Her stomach twisted at his words.

"Yeah, thought so."

"Quit trying to justify what you did and make me feel bad. You are the one in the wrong, not me." She tried to hold back her tears.

"No can do, princess. But I've wasted enough time here tonight. I've got better things to do." He turned to walk away.

"Drink yourself right back into a rut?" She spat sarcastically.

"Hey, that's more than you're doing. Maybe I'll get Carlile to come along. I bet he'd have more fun doing that than he would around your annoying ass."

And that was the end for her.

Because Austin came up to her immediately after.

"Kristen?"

She barely looked at him before pushing past him with tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

He followed.

"Kristen, stop running!"

She came to an abrupt halt and slowly turned to face him.

"What?" She asked quietly.

"Why don't you just come to me? Running won't help anything."

She knew better than to be offended by that, but her emotions were running high and she wasn't sure she was in control anymore. "Because for years, I've been on my own! All I know is to run!"

"But I'm here now. You'll always have me."

"Do you know how many times you've said that to me?"

"Yes, but now you have me in a completely different way. I mean, you always did, but I just didn't know it. Now I'm fully aware that you have me by the heart. I'm not going anywhere. Ever." He didn't want them to be fighting again. He didn't want this.

"Whatever, Austin. I'm sure in a few weeks you'll get sick of me and be on to whoever else. So thank god this tour is almost over."

That hurt. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked sharply.

"Ask again the day you end up in someone else's bed; which probably isn't far off."

"Well gee, I really fucking appreciate all the faith you have in me." Austin's voice rose with his hurt.

Kristen's eyes widened slightly as her own words began to sink in.

"Austin,"

"No, I get it. Whatever." He finished as he too turned to leave.

He hoped to God that she would stop him, but she didn't.

Both wanted nothing more than the other to turn around and tell them it was okay, but neither would be the first to break.

...

Austin went with the first idea that popped into his head.

Unfortunately, the first was also one of the most stupid he could've come up with.

Immediately after the fight, he ended up at some bar.

Five shots later, he wasn't sure if it was just the alcohol or if he really thought everything tonight was his fault.

He was barely upset anymore. More so a drunk type of numb.

The feelings were there, he could still feel them. But all the alcohol in his system was saying, "Oh, fuck it! Do whatever and worry about it later," Which seemed pretty reasonable to him.

The sixth shot was the kicker, as he took it once he saw a skimpy little blonde making her way over to him.

Everything was beginning to blur, including his thoughts.

He barely even made out her words, much less his own.

But no matter how much alcohol he had in his system, there was the smallest spark that was telling him it was a _bad _idea to be following this chick out to her car.

Against his better judgment, Austin went back to a hotel with the girl.

Tony watched from his and Mike's table in disbelief as Austin drove off with some random chick.

His first thought was to tell Kristen, but he remembered how bad today had been.

Not that it would help. He figured he would give her the rest of the night to not know _this_.

He was going to hate himself when he had to be the one to destroy her everything, but she deserved to know. So until then, he tried to focus on his own evening.

...

Tony woke up bright and early the next day, at 7AM.

Everyone had decided to get hotel rooms for the night to get a break from each other and a real bed.

Tony crossed the hall to Kristen's room slowly.

He took a breath and knocked on the door, hoping she would be asleep and wouldn't answer.

To both his dismay and relief, she did.

She stared back at him sleepily, but she had been awake watching TV.

He took another deep breath before he spoke.

"Kristen, we need to talk…"

...

Austin didn't open his eyes when he woke up.

He felt a warm, soft body against his, and he leaned into her.

He knew she would come around at some point.

Granted, he didn't remember it happening, but clearly it had.

He caressed her arm softly a few times before slowly opening his eyes.

When he did, his hand froze. As did the rest of his body.

He was face to face with someone that appeared to be some dainty blonde in the dim light.

He jumped out of the bed.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

The girl stirred, and gave him an annoyed look. "What is your problem?"

"Who the hell are you?" He shook as he spoke.

What had he done?

She eyed him, but said nothing.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." He felt as if his heart was about to stop as he scooped up his clothes.

_Kristen. _

He got dressed quickly before literally running out the door.

Once outside the hotel, he realized that whoever that girl was, must have brought him here, and he had no idea at all where the bands could be. He knew they were somewhere here, because he'd heard that they were just getting hotel rooms.

But where?

Lucky for him, he didn't have to search long before he spotted the buses parked at a hotel only some feet away.

...

After rushing up to the desk, he found out what room she was in and hopped into the elevator.

He was sure it couldn't have gone any slower, but he still darted out of it the second it opened and down the hall until he reached her door.

He didn't bother knocking, and opened it on his own.

He was slightly surprised at what he saw.

She stood there with Tony, crying her eyes out.

She looked at him with a look that should've stopped his heart right there.

"Are you kidding me, Austin?" She cried. There was no anger in her voice. Only pain.

"I only said what I said because I was upset; I didn't think you'd actually cheat on me! Already…"

"Kristen, I can explain,"

"No need."

"I was so drunk. I don't remember anything,"

"Oh, because that makes it better." She looked away from him. "I knew I would never be good enough."

"No," He put his hands on her shoulders. "You are enough, you're more than enough. You're perfect. I don't deserve you."

She rolled her eyes.

"Look, I can't deny that the drinking was all my fault, I should've known better. But the other part, I couldn't help. I would take it back right now if I could. You have no idea how scared I was waking up next to someone else."

She sighed. "Look, just don't. You should go."

His own tears made their way to his cheeks.

His voice broke as he spoke. "Is… is this it, for us? Already?"

"I don't know."

His heart fell. He nodded to her, respecting her decision.

He knew he deserved this. There was no way around that.

He walked out into the hallway and tried to start looking for Alan's room, but he was too out of it to think about anything else.

Everything he'd waited years for was finally his, and he threw it all away for booze and cheap sex.

Waiting on her choice was going to tear him apart, but he knew that he deserved it.

This time, everything was on him.


	9. Chapter 9

Seven days. It had been seven straight days that she hadn't spoken to or even looked at Austin.

He had no idea how she was able to do it.

She ignored every call, text, and hug; everything he tried. It was killing him.

While he understood why she was doing this and knew that she had every right to, he just didn't approve of her ignoring problems instead of facing them. He couldn't bear not knowing what their future held. He wanted desperately for her to just tell him; be it good or bad. Either would be better than wondering.

Knowing how bad it was for him, Austin couldn't even imagine how weird it had been for her band. They were all slightly upset about what happened, even Caleb.

She had barely talked all week.

But today, as he and Alan were walking up towards the venue, he saw her outside talking to the few fans that were already there.

In particular, he saw her talking to a guy.

It hurt to watch her giggle and smile without him.

Luckily (or maybe not so luckily), the female fans spotted them and called them over.

Austin met with them, taking pictures and signing things, but he made sure he got close enough to hear everything Kristen was saying.

"So, how about it, after the show?" The guy asked.

She laughed again. "I'm afraid I can't."

"Why not?"

She looked up at Austin, who was openly staring right back at her.

She gave him a big smile. "I've already got a date, and it's kind of important."

The guy tried to laugh it off, but Austin already knew that she was paying him no mind.

The grin she gave him told him that she had something up her sleeve.

...

Kristen took it all in as the crowd cheered for them.

She knew Austin was watching, and that he had been all night.

This was important to them, and after the past week, it was about time she stopped fighting everything.

The crowd quieted, and she took a breath before speaking.

"Now, I know that a lot of you are here because you fucking love Of Mice & Men." She started.

They agreed.

"Trust me, that's a big part of why I'm here too. We're all friends here. We always have been. This week has been… rocky. Friends fight, People that are _more than friends _fight. I've been hurting a lot these past few days. So I called up an old friend of mine by the name of Shayley Bourget."

The crowd _exploded _at the mention of Shayley.

A sad smile crossed her face. "He told me, that after everything that's been going on, I can use this song. And it's absolutely fucking perfect. This song is called _My Understandings_."

Austin's eyes widened. He was shocked too at the mention of Shay, but her singing his song?

"_I don't mind it, I don't mind if you're overrated, or if you're staring at the edge of the world. Keep in mind that I'm a sore eye, with blurry vision. But I can see it has to be you, love, that I've been dreaming of. And if we climb this high, I swear we'll never die._"

Austin's eyes spilled tears as she screamed and sang the repeat of the verse.

When she finished the vocals, the band kept playing, and some force (other than himself, he was sure), made him run out onto the stage and up to her.

They kept playing as the two stared back into each other's eyes.

He grabbed her mic gently and spoke softly.

"Kristen Marie Austell, I love you more than my own life. This past week has been hell without you, and I know what I did was wrong but fuck; I don't remember most of it and it didn't change the fact that all I want is you. You are all I'll ever want."

She stared back for a second before she took the mic back.

She put one arm around his neck and pulled him closer until their foreheads touched.

"Austin Robert Carlile," She paused. "I love you more." She dropped the mic and pulled his lips to hers.

The band kept playing the music while the (majority of the) crowd cheered loudly.

When they pulled away, Austin was smiling back at her.

"I missed you so much."

She chuckled and gave him another quick kiss before moving to help her bandmates move their equipment.

...

Austin let out a content sigh as they slowly pulled away from the intense kisses they were having on the floor or the back lounge of the Pierce The Veil bus.

The space was dark, the only light coming from the moon and the open window.

He tightened his embrace around her and pulled her body closer.

"I missed this. I missed you." He whispered.

"I missed you too. I swear, if I hadn't talked to Shay I don't know what I'd have done."

"What do you mean? When did you talk to him?" Austin asked.

"A couple days ago. I called him to check on him, and he just knew something was up. I spilled everything. Also, he wanted me to tell you that you finally owe him that twenty bucks and a slinky?"

Austin let out a laugh. "I'll have to call him about that. Anyway, continue."

She smiled and shook her head. "Anyway, he said that it was best to just forget it. He knows how much you mean to me, and he said he knows how much you care about me and that you'd never do that knowingly. We started talking about music and he brought up My Understandings, and we both thought it was a perfect way to heal everything back up."

"Shay was always the smart one." He replied quietly as he snuggled his cheek against the top of her head.

"He's doing better. I'm proud of him."

"I'm proud of him for both that, and being able to do what I never could." He leaned back, smiling at her.

"What's that?"

"Making you see reason."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, don't we remember what happened the last time you did that?" He let out a small, mischievous laugh.

Her eyes lit up with remembrance as she did it again.

Austin immediately brought his mouth to hers and caught her tongue in another deep kiss.

He let out the softest moan as he tried to calm himself down.

"It's 5AM, we get up at 9... It would be smartest to sleep or you're going to be grumpy tomorrow." He teased.

"You know what would make me less grouchy in the morning?"

"Hm?"

She kissed him again, and pulled his body to hers. Except this time, she didn't let him go.


	10. Chapter 10

Kristen had a huge smile on her face as she stared out the window of the bus.

"_Jacksonville, next right_"

It was 5AM and she hadn't slept yet. She was too excited.

Tonight, they were performing in her hometown. The place where she'd grown up. It was surreal to even think about.

Austin smiled sleepily up at her. "You need to sleep."

"I can't."

She was sitting up on her knees looking out the window, while he lay on the couch next to her.

He'd been asleep, but was waking up every now and then. He couldn't stay asleep while she was still awake.

"Try." He said while pulling on her waist to see if she'd lie down.

"I'm too excited. This is the only place I've ever known, Austin." She beamed at him.

"I know. I'm excited for you. It's going to be epic."

She laughed as she finally lay down against him. "Maybe I'll have time to show you around today."

"I hope so." He hugged her close. "That'd be fun."

He yawned, and she didn't say anything else as he slowly drifted back to sleep.

...

When he woke up some hours later, Kristen was reading patiently while she waited for him.

She smiled at him. "We've got a few hours to kill and we're already downtown, you ready to go check it out?"

"Are we getting food?"

"Yep."

"Then hell yeah!" He laughed at himself as he stretched.

It took him a few minutes to get ready, and then they were off.

She grinned, knowing immediately where they were.

He held her hand as she led him down a long cobblestone street.

"What the hell is this?" He laughed.

"Hidden awesomeness." She replied.

"How'd you find it?"

"A friend of mine showed it to me once."

Austin looked around at the olden style shops and restaurants that they passed.

The place was extremely cool.

They reached the middle of the street, and stepped down a small staircase.

Austin looked around in amazement at the large fountain in the center of the place.

"Wow." He whispered.

"I know." She smiled back.

There was another staircase, and they walked up it.

"Almost there." She told him as she carefully looked at the signs on the buildings.

"There!" She shouted out, pointing at one in the middle.

Austin smiled at her as she led him into a decently sized pizza place.

They were seated in a corner, and went ahead and ordered a cheese pizza.

"It's going to be amazing, I promise." She grinned at him excitedly.

"I believe you." He smiled back. "Hey, can we change the channel on this thing?" He motioned to the small tv that was against the wall.

"Yeah, I think so." She pressed a button on the side and the channel changed to cartoons.

"That works." He laughed.

Austin looked around, taking in the scene.

It looked pretty old school, but he thought it was cool. And she clearly was fond of it, which made it better.

He looked at her, and saw her eyes flicker away at something behind him.

Confused, he turned to see what she was looking at and saw 2 girls slowly walking up to them.

One of them appeared to be in complete shock, and the other was excited, but seemed calm enough to speak.

"Austin?"

"Hey." He smiled at them cheerfully.

"We really hope we're not interrupting you guys,"

"Nah, it's fine." Kristen spoke up.

The girl smiled at her politely. "Can we please have a picture?"

"Of course, I'd want to take a picture with her too." Austin joked, trying to make it less awkward for Kristen.

The girls' cheeks turned red as they smiled wearily, they felt bad about not caring about her, but didn't want to say so.

Kristen rolled her eyes at him. "Austin, stop. Do you guys have a camera? I'll take the picture."

She nodded sheepishly and handed Kristen her phone as Austin stood up to pose with them.

Kristen took the picture, and smiled again as she handed them back their camera.

"Thank you." The girl said.

"You coming to the show tonight?" Austin asked.

"Yes!"

"Promise me you'll buy a New Revolution shirt." Austin said.

Kristen scoffed at him jokingly. He gave Kristen a knowing look.

"Okay." The girl smiled.

"Right on. We'll see you later." Austin told them as they walked away.

When they were gone, he turned back to Kristen. "You're not bothered by that stuff, are you?"

"No. You're Austin Carlile."

He frowned slightly. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're perfect."

His cheeks warmed as the waitress set down their pizza.

"Wow, this does look good." Austin said as he put a couple pieces on his plate.

"Told you so."

He gave her a wide smile as they started eating.

...

They left the place about an hour later, and were greeted by a relatively large crowd as they stepped outside.

Girly shrieks filled the air and Kristen tightened her grip on Austin's hand in shock.

He squeezed back and smiled.

The people began coming up to them, and both of them were surprised to see that most of them wanted to meet Kristen.

They told her how awesome it was that she was from here and how good the band was.

Austin stood quietly to the side, giving her an approving and excited grin whenever she looked to him in surprise.

They met every person until there were only two left.

"Would you mind if I asked you guys a few questions? Really, it won't take long at all."

"Of course." Austin agreed, wrapping an arm around Kristen's shoulder.

"What are you asking us about?" Kristen asked.

"You two. We feel like no one ever gets the actual story, and we as well as many of your fans want the true one for you guys."

"Shoot." Austin said.

They started filming, and it began.

"You guys have known each other for twelve years, did you ever date before this?"

"No, but lord knows I wanted to." Kristen blurted out.

Austin chuckled. "I was an idiot back then. I don't know how I never realized I liked her."

"We've been hearing a lot of stories about you guys not getting along on this tour. Were you fighting, and why?"

"Because she loves me and I was too stupid to see it." Austin said firmly. "I made the mistake of bringing someone who I knew I didn't really care about on this tour. Looking back, that was a bad idea from the beginning. I had the girl I truly loved right by my side for years, and then we moved away for a little while. She has been with me now since December. We've only been _dating _for about a month, but that's my fault. We should be in year 12, not month 2."

"Wow." The guy exclaimed quietly.

"And we weren't always fighting. The first day, I couldn't take it because I was in shock. For a while though, I was able to control everything and was still unhappy, but I was able to try and ignore it. We got along just like old times until we kissed for the first time. He had a girlfriend and I felt used."

"It breaks my heart that she hurt so badly over that. It really does. I love her more than anything. And it was all my fault." Austin added sadly.

She hugged him close. "And we had a small issue last week, but I honestly don't think anything is going to break us up. I waited too long to be this happy. I won't let anything take it from me."

They smiled at them.

"What about Abby? Did you just say, 'oh, fuck you. I want my best friend.'?"

Austin let out a small laugh. "Actually, all I said was that I wanted to break up, and she called me a cheater and then ran off the bus. Haven't heard from her. Don't care, honestly."

"Were you cheating?"

"Of course not. I'd never-" Austin paused, grimly remembering waking up next to a stranger last week.

He looked down at Kristen and gave her a kiss. When he pulled away, he gave her a small smile, and turned back to the interviewer.

"Anything you want to say to the fans or anything?"

"To the fans, I love you all so much. If you're happy that I've got the most perfect girlfriend ever, that's great and you're awesome. If you're pissed, keep it to yourself, please? To the girls that just want to sleep with me, no deal. Don't even try it." He winked into the camera and stuck his tongue out.

After a few seconds, they put the camera down and shook their hands.

"Thanks, it'll be up later."

"No problem, tweet us, let us know!" Austin said cheerfully before they walked off.

Turning back to Kristen, he gave her another kiss.

"We need to hurry up and get back to the place before we're late."

"Metro Park, woo!" She cheered.

She took his hand and started to lead him down the street.

...

Kristen was literally shaking with all the energy she was pulling from the crowd.

The sun was still out, and the crowd was already wild as hell.

They were the first crowd that all of The New Revolution members could really tell that these people liked them.

No.

They _loved _them. And it was fantastic.

Kristen stood happily in the center of the stage as she stared out at all the people that were gathered around.

"I fucking love you guys." Her eyes watered happily as they screamed back.

"I grew up here. I have so many memories in this fucked up town. Honestly? I hated it. It was fucking terrible, and the people are usually assholes. But not you guys." She took a breath. "You guys are the people I love. You're the badasses who were _my _kind. I wish you were here when I was growing up."

They responded to her, and she smiled.

"I could go on for hours about how much I hated this place, but now, standing on this stage; I love it. There isn't a place in the fucking world that I would rather be right now. Thank you all so much for supporting all of us, it means everything to us. Anyway, for the most part, we've had a pretty solid setlist all tour. This is our last song, but just for you guys… here's a different one!"

"_I hate this town, it's so washed up. And all my friend's don't give a fuck. They'll tell me that it's just bad luck. When will I find where I fit it?_"

The crowd freaked out over the A Day to Remember song, and Kristen used the energy to rock out her hardest.

"_I can't live my life always backing down. I've got to do this right, then they can't make a sound. 'Cause I'm not here for nothing. At least I can say I stand for something_!"

She looked over at Austin, who was watching happily from the side of the stage.

"_You and me, we stand for something._"

The chorus ran over one more time, and she jumped down and stood on the barricade.

"_And don't believe a word they're telling to you. Don't believe a word they're telling to you. They let me down. When will I find where I fit in? I hate this town_."

She screamed her heart out while she stood right against the crowd.

She stayed there, taking in the scene and hoping to god someone took pictures. She wanted to remember this for the rest of her life.

She stayed until security pulled her down.

Of Mice & Men were already getting ready onstage, so Kristen skipped over to Austin, giving him a probably too passionate kiss for being in front of so many people.

He gave her a wide grin as he watched her walk to the side of the stage and hop up to sit on one of their equipment cases.

She winked back at him as they started their set.

"Isn't she great?" Austin laughed.

The crowd cheered back, and he continued.

"This first song is a pretty good example of you guys, because you know what they say." He paused, and flashed a mischievous smile at the crowd. "_They Don't Call It the South for Nothing…_"

...

Kristen watched carefully as the end of Of Mice & Men's set neared, because she noticed that Austin had switched the order of the songs.

After finishing The Depths, he turned his head to look right at her, and she gave him a shy smile. Now she understood, at least somewhat.

She hopped down as he gestured for her to come over.

"We have two songs left," Austin told the crowd. "And they are two that we need a vocalist for. The first song is one that I chose because I know she loves it so much. You ready for this?" The last question was directed at her.

"What song?"

"Repeating Apologies."

With that, the band started playing.

She sang the opening harmonies as Phil played.

Austin started screaming, and she got chills.

"_I hope you know, I swear I've never done this before and I care. I'm so sorry. Scarred you for life. Please come back to me. Down on my knees, repeating apologies_."

She braced herself and started to sing back at him.

"_Why do I deny the heart that's grown colder? Too quick to criticize the lullaby. Why do I deny the heart that's grown colder? Too quick to criticize…_" She let her voice fade into the music.

"_Sweet serenity._" She picked back up.

Austin screamed back over her. "_I wish you sweet serenity_."

...

Kristen jumped down next to Austin on their makeshift bed.

"Ugh, I'm so fucking excited! Today was amazing, and tomorrow I get to see my bed!" She giggled enthusiastically.

"I'm excited to see your bed too." Austin winked.

She grinned back at him before snuggling against him.

"It's going to be great. The last show, I can't believe it." Austin said softly.

"Me either. Can you believe everything that's happened?"

"Not at all. But I'm beyond glad it did."

She smiled in agreement as she closed her eyes.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Austin spoke.

"I love you so much."

He waited for her to reply, but he laughed to himself when he realized that she was asleep.

He reached over and shut out the light as he laid them down and went to bed himself.

...

All three bands were woken up early the next morning and were taken to a nearby studio.

Apparently, they were going to do a small photoshoot in memory of the tour.

First, they had all 11 of the boys pile around each other while Kristen stood in the middle of them.

In most of the rest, they were all goofing around. Austin and Kristen were in most of them together, hugging and laughing and enjoying themselves.

Everyone had a lot of fun, and went off on their own to wait for the show to start.

...

Kristen smiled to herself as she unlocked the door to her apartment.

She opened the door, and let Austin in.

"So this is it?" Austin smiled as he looked around.

"Yep. Nothing too great. But it's my home now."

"I love it."

She leaned against the counter and beamed at him.

"You should show me your bedroom; I wonder what that looks like." He suggested with a cheeky grin.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Maybe later. Right now, I'm more focused on the show."

He chuckled, and moved towards her until he stood against her. He kept his hands on the counter to keep his balance.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a sly smile.

"I love it that you're so passionate about music. It's hot on you." He giggled as he leaned his forehead against hers.

She laughed back. "Thanks?"

"Oh no, thank you. Do you know how great it is to see _you_ and your beautiful voice up onstage? Very."

He was trying hard, but she didn't plan on budging just yet.

He gave her a quick, sloppy kiss and looked back into her passive eyes with his dark starving ones.

"_Come on_."

The tone of his voice sent chills down her spine, but she kept her ground.

"Nah." She smiled sweetly and kissed him.

"Fine, you win." He said, pulling back so she could move.

"I love you." She replied, still smiling.

He rolled his eyes jokingly. "Yeah, yeah."

...

The crowd so far had been absolutely insane.

Vic smiled widely as they prepared to play their last song.

"Guys, you all have been fucking amazing! This is the last show of the tour, and I just wanted to say thank you. Both for being incredible and for waiting so patiently for this day. We love you!"

They cheered back at him before he spoke again.

"We have one more song, and it's off our new album Collide With the Sky. This song is about life being a bit more on the sucky side, and the only place you have to really get away from it all is right here. This song's called _Hell Above._"

As Vic screamed and started singing the first verse, every band member from Of Mice & Men and The New Revolution ran out onstage, dancing to the music.

"'_Cause I don't need any more friends. _Clearly." Vic motioned to the crowded stage.

Everyone on the stage looked to each other and, all in sync with Vic, screamed out, _"This is a wasteland, my only retreat. With heaven above you, there's hell over me._"

With a wide smile on their faces, Pierce The Veil finished the song and played their outro as Vic spoke again.

"Tampa, Florida, thank you so fucking much!"

All of the band members stood with their arms around each other's shoulders and took a bow.

This tour was perfect, more than any of them could've asked for.

And as they looked back at the crowd that was screaming their names for the last time, they were speechless.

...

After everything was packed up to be taken home, everyone headed off to settle in for the night.

Kasey, Caleb, and Matt went to their respective homes; bringing with them whoever wanted to crash at their place for the night.

Kristen happily brought Austin back to hers.

Austin grinned at her as he snuggled against her pillows.

"Ahh. I might have to move down here."

She giggled as she lay down next to him. "Well, it's going to suck not getting to see you every day anymore."

"Hey, I'll be back in a couple weeks. I doubt I'll even be able to stay away that long. If it weren't for my dog I'd probably never leave."

"Bring him by sometime." She said with a smile.

"One day. But thank god he's not here right now."

"Why?"

A naughty glint flickered in Austin's eyes. "Because, he has this weird thing about me having sex."

She let out a small laugh. "What?"

"Yeah, he barks a lot. I don't know why." He looked down and laughed shyly.

"Are you asking, Carlile?"

"Is it working, last night in town?"

She smirked at him.

Leaning down, she gave him a kiss.

Austin's hand moved up to her cheek, holding her face there.

He slipped his tongue into her mouth, caressing hers gently.

With a sigh, he shifted his weight until he was hovering above her. He pulled away, and looked down at her with longing eyes and a small smile. "I love you so much." He breathed shallowly.

"I love you too." She whispered.

"Prove it."

They brought their mouths back together in a haste as Austin pressed himself against her body.

He moved his lips to her neck, and she let out a small whine.

He smiled against her skin before bringing his face back to hers.

She smiled back as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I love you." They said simultaneously.

That led to a passionate kiss, and after that, neither of them could control the want anymore.

And the rest is history.

...

Austin woke up in the morning with someone very warm against him.

Thank god, it was her this time.

"Good morning to you too." She chuckled at him touching her.

"It's so great to wake up next to you. In bed. With nothing to do all day."

She frowned. "One problem. You have a flight home today."

He buried his head in the pillow. "Fuck. I don't wanna."

"I don't want you to either." She replied quietly.

"What time do I leave again?"

"11."

He stared blankly. "What time is it?"

She looked over at the clock. "9:58."

"Fuck!" He yelped again.

She smiled and kissed his cheek before leaving the bed.

"Noooo," Austin protested. He looked up at her, seeing that she was still undressed from last night and smiled to himself. "It's funny, 12 years ago I would've like, cried at the thought of seeing you naked."

"Gee, thanks."

"In my defense I was just starting to get interested in boobs, don't judge me." He laughed as she got dressed.

"Do you plan on going to the airport naked?"

"Do you plan on making me breakfast?"

She walked back over the bed and leaned over Austin.

"Love you." He said quickly.

She smirked and gave him a kiss.

"Now go on, get ready." She told him before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen.

Austin stood up and stretched. He would miss waking up like this.

...

Kristen's breathing slowed as she walked with Austin to his gate.

He noticed that she was upset, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Their steps slowed as they approached the gate. They stopped and turned to face each other.

"This is it." She sighed sadly.

"No. It's goodbye for now, not goodbye forever." Austin tried to make her smile.

"I'm really going to miss you."

He pressed his forehead against hers. "I'll be back soon. And fuck, maybe I'll get a Skype and we can video chat there. I'll do anything to see you."

She smiled and leaned up, kissing him.

He giggled at her. "You know, you'll never get rid of me now, kibbles."

She grinned. "I don't ever want to."

They kissed again, just as a voice announced that the flight was boarding.

"I'll call you as soon as I land. I love you!"

"I love you too!" She called back as she watched him go through the gate.

While she was walking towards the exit, she found Matt leaving too.

"Hard time parting from Mike?" She grinned at him.

"The worst. Hard time letting Carlile go?"

"Not really. He'll be visiting soon."

"I'm glad you guys are together, it's great." He gave her a genuine smile. "One question though."

"Yeah?"

"Can you say, 'Greatest tour to ever happen ever'?"

She smirked to herself as they walked out into the sun.

"Yes I fucking can."

* * *

**A/N: So I just wanted to say, if you actually read all the way to the end, I love you! Thank you so much. It means the absolute world to me. :3 and, you're awesome because you probably love either Of Mice & Men or Pierce The Veil... or better, both. Which makes you perfect. 3 xD**

**Thanks again! :)**


	11. Sequel!

Hey guys!

Quite a few people asked, and I've finally been able to come up with ideas, and now Southern Constellations has a sequel! If you're interested, head to my page and check out "Break the Barricade". c:


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